About the Violin maker
Oleg Semenukha was born in 1974 in the western Ukrainian town of Novovolynsk. His path to violin making was a winding one. It began with a love of classical music, and especially the sound of the violin, which accompanies him to this day.
From early childhood he attended an arts-focused school and continued further along the path of visual arts: first studying artistic woodcarving in the town of Kovel, and then sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Lviv. It was there that he developed a sense for beauty, harmony of form and color, and precision in working with shape and material — skills that would later prove very useful in his violin-making work.
The violin first caught his attention already in his fourth year at the Kovel school, when a new roommate brought his old quarter-size violin, which he had played as a child at music school, and showed him the basics. Oleg eventually bought it from him and began to practice on it, even though it was much too small for him.
After finishing the school, he spent a year in preparatory courses ahead of the Academy's entrance exams. It was then that he also acquired his first full-size, factory-made violin. Around that time, Oleg became friends with several conservatory students who lived nearby in the dormitories. “When I saw the masterful instruments of my friends from the conservatory, a desire was born in me to build my own violin, one that would be better than my factory one,” recalls Oleg Semenukha.
A decisive encounter with violin maker Stanislav Shylak, right in his first year at the Academy, helped him fulfill that desire — under his guidance, Oleg completed his very first instrument. That same autumn, an opportunity arose for him to travel to the Czech Republic for a month, to a firm making bowed instruments, and demonstrate his skills there. After being accepted by the firm, he took academic leave from the Academy and worked there from January to September 1997, before returning to finish his studies in Lviv.
After finishing his studies in 2002, he earned a degree as a monumental sculptor. His return to the Czech Republic was then delayed by almost two years. During this time, he grew close to violist and restorer Alexander Svirlov, who taught him the basics of violin playing and introduced him to the delicate nuances of instrument adjustment. During these years, Oleg Semenukha built a violin and a viola.
He returned to the Czech Republic for good in 2004, to begin a new chapter of his professional and personal life.
From 2004 to 2009 he worked at a firm producing bowed musical instruments in Unhošť, where he honed his skills in building violins, violas, cellos, double basses, and viols. He enjoyed working in the varnish workshop, where he had the opportunity to experiment and learn to imitate the look of historical Italian instruments. The firm then closed, and in 2009 Oleg founded his own trade in Kladno.
In 2008 he met master violin maker Dalibor Bzirský, who became his long-term teacher and mentor, lifting his work to a truly masterful level. From 2015 to 2021 he also worked closely with master violin maker Jan Špidlen as a restorer of fine instruments — an experience that profoundly deepened his sensitivity to detail and the artistic value of the string instrument.
Since 2006 he has regularly participated in international violin-making competitions. Among his most notable achievements are 22nd place out of 353 makers in Mittenwald in 2010, 16th place at the Étienne Vatelot Competition in Paris in 2011, and 10th place for viola at the prestigious Cremona Triennale in 2012. At the international competition in Prague in 2025, he placed 3rd for the sound of his violin and was the second-highest ranked Czech participant, an accomplishment he considers one of his most significant.
He now works independently in his violin workshop in Kladno. He builds new instruments, performs restorations, and since 2018 has devoted himself primarily to crafting master violins, violas, and cellos. He is a member of the Guild of Prague Violin Makers and the Association of Artistic Violin Makers.
Today, his instruments are played by students, professionals, and members of leading Czech orchestras. Among them are Professor Jan Řezníček, FOK concertmaster Tomáš Duda, and violist Olena Doubová — each of whom has found in his instruments a distinctive voice that reflects their musical expression.