Salvi Harps is an Italian manufacturer of concert harps. The company was founded by Italian-American harpist and harpmaker Victor Salvi in 1956.

History

The father of company founder Victor (Vittorio) Salvi was an Italian luthier, piano and harp maker from Venice who worked in

Viggiano Viggiano is a ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. It is bounded by the comuni of Calvello, Corleto Perticara, Grumento Nova, Laurenzana, Marsicovetere, and Montemurro. Viggiano is known for mi ...

, a town in Southern Italy known for its musical instruments before emigrating to the United States together with his wife in 1913. Victor Salvi was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in 1920. Like his siblings Alberto and Aida, he learned to play the harp and became harpist of the United States Navy Band during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and later with the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

and with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. During his career as a harpist, he started – first spurred by a shortage of parts during the war – to continue his family tradition in instrument making, repaired harps in Chicago and built his first harp in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1954. In 1956, Salvi founded a harp making business in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

under the name of "N.S.M.", which stands for "nuovi strumenti musicali" (new musical instruments). In 1974, the workshop was moved to Piasco, a village close to the town of

Saluzzo Saluzzo (; pms, Salusse ) is a town and former principality in the province of Cuneo, in the Piedmont region, Italy. The city of Saluzzo is built on a hill overlooking a vast, well-cultivated plain. Iron, lead, silver, marble, slate etc. are fo ...

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, which has a long tradition in woodworking. For the strings, Salvi acquired British string maker Bow Brand, while the mechanics were manufactured in Switzerland. In 1987, Salvi Harps acquired the insolvent U.S. harp manufacturing company

Lyon & Healy Lyon & Healy Harps, Inc. is an American musical instrument manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois and is a subsidiary of Salvi Harps. Today best known for concert harps, the company's Chicago headquarters and manufacturing facility contains a ...

of Chicago, which had been founded in 1889 and which is the only other large manufacturer of concert harps.

Present situation

Salvi is one of the most important manufacturers of high-quality harps. About 90 employees make about 2,000 harps a year from spruce and maple wood, about half of which are concert (double action) harps, and the remaining lever and electroacoustic harps. The subsidiary Lyon & Healy employs about 135 staff in Chicago.

Museum

The company-owned museum ''Museo dell'Arpa Victor Salvi'' in Piasco was opened in 2006 and houses a significant collection of historic harps.

Foundation

The ''Fondazione Victor Salvi'' was founded in 2000 and supports harp playing worldwide. It organizes competitions, offers scholarships, commissions new works for the harp and lends instruments.

References

External links

Website

Harp museum website
{{Authority control Italian brands Musical instrument manufacturing companies of Italy Manufacturing companies established in 1956