[curriculum vitae] [introduction] [construction] [care & maintenance] [pics] [the bow]
Images of instruments by Hans Johannsson.
Work in progress
Some tools and things
A block plane and jointing plane made of brass and various gouges,thumbplanes and chisels
Friends and clients (Slowly under construction)
Gudny Gudmundsdottir
Bryndis Halla Gylfadottir
André Theunis and Rene Zaal
fellow violin making lunatics
Dan Cassidy
Matthias Stefansson
The Sjova-Almennar quartett
In august 1998 an inaugural concert was held in the National
Gallery in Reykjavik
click
for a larger image (photo: Kjartan Thorbjornsson)
The occasion was the handing over of a string quartet by Hans
Johannsson to CEO Olafur B. Thors of Sjova-Almennar, commissioned
by the company two years earlier

The central idea behind the joint project was to contribute
in at least three imporant ways to art, education and industry
with one well organized gesture
The project proved beneficial to Icelands leading insurance
company in two major ways-namely a good solid investment, since
the two violins , viola and cello are in the ranks of instruments
with interesting investment value, and also the group of instruments
now owned by the company are played regularly at events organized
by Sjova-Almennar
The instruments are a welcome addition to the Music Conservatorys
arsenal of instruments, and benefit greatly those students in
dire need of quality instruments during their time of study. The
students participation in recitals where the quartet is played
is also valuable as an exercise in performance outside the school.
With the commissioning of the quartet, the company is simultaneously
supporting the Music Conservatory with an indefinite loan of the
instruments, allowing string students the chance to use fine instruments
while they study, and creating a welcome opportunity for the violin
maker to construct an entire quartet, tuned to sound as an organic
whole