16 3/8" Nicolas Gilles viola, Villeneuvette 2022

French luthier Nicolas Gilles is a native of Montpellier, France, where he expressed an interest in music from an early age, training both as a musician and instrument maker. He studied at the Mirecourt and Newark schools of violin making before working for Charles Luc Hommel in Marseille, where he was trained in the repair and restoration of fine antique instruments. In 2000, Gilles returned to Montpellier to work with Frédéric Chaudière and established his own workshop there in 2001.

Gilles has won the highest honors for his instruments, most notably at the Violin Society of America International Competition of 2004, in which he won a Gold Medal for Quartet, a Gold Medal for viola, and a Silver Medal for cello workmanship. In subsequent VSA competitions, he won Silver Medals for his cellos in 2008 and 2010, and in 2012 he won another Silver Medal for cello craftsmanship and a Silver Medal for tone for his Quartet. He also won a tone award from cellist Eric Picard at the VioloncellenSeine cello-making competition in Paris in 2014. His instruments are in high demand.