MY VIOLA
Intro
I began playing the viola when I was 15 years old. I had initially started playing violin a few years earlier but that changed toward the end of one school year when the already dwindling viola section of just two kids was about to be reduced to one with graduation in the near future. Our teacher asked the orchestra, “Would anyone like to play viola?” For whatever reason, I felt compelled to raise my hand. So I did.
Lucy taught how to play the violin when I was 13 years old. I took lessons from her for a couple of years, went to another teacher (who was also my high school orchestra teacher) for a while but eventually came back to her to start viola lessons so I could do the job I had decided to volunteer for. I loved playing viola because I felt it suited me better than violin. Eventually, it was time for me to move on from borrowing the school’s instrument and get my own. One day at a lesson, Lucy had an oddly shaped, cobbled-together cardboard box waiting for me. Inside was a new viola made by someone she knew. If you looked through the F holes, written in pencil, it said:
Made By
Joe Stankavich
[indecipherable], Costa Rica
2000
503-630-2794 (USA)
Estacada, OR 97023
It looked just like the one she played with the shoulder cut away. For a long time, I thought this was how most violas were shaped.
Over the years I’ve tried to find more information about the instrument. The phone number written on the inside is not in service. I called around to some violin shops in the area but no one had heard of the maker. Finally, I searched for Lucy to find more information. You will find her response below.
From my childhood viola teacher, Lucy Taylor:
Joseph Stankavich was a maker I first met when I was in college back in Michigan. He had some interesting and viable theories about tones and plates of the violin. So he was an experimenter. He could make good bows as well. He copied one of mine, and it sounded as good or better than the one I had.
As you may recall, I had a "cut-away" or "virtuoso" viola made by Otto Erdesz. It was designed by this Hungarian maker to make it easier for the player to get to the higher positions. Well, Mr. Stankavich thought he would try his hand at it, and made a few like that with good results! His workmanship was recognized by some awards in some Luthier contests he entered. He also had a show at the American Viola Society. You're right, I think he and his family did move to Oregon. He sold a few of his violas to some students of mine for much less than the original prototype costs. There are only a few in existence.
cutaway viola
Otto Erdesz Remembered
Adjustable neck resources
Stick your neck out: the pros and cons of adjustable necks
Introducing the Ultralight Viola (with section about adjustable neck)