Daniele Chiesa, Spain
Daniele Chiesa was born in Bergamo, Italy in 1973; he has studied classical and jazz guitar since the age of 12.
In 1994 he enrolled in the International Violin-making school of Cremona, learning traditional violin-making and repairing and building guitars in his own shop; he graduated in 1998. One year after, he moved to Santa Cruz, California, working for guitar maker Kenny Hill, where he was first exposed to traditional Spanish guitar construction.
After almost a year, he went back to his hometown in Italy, where he worked with classical guitarist and guitar maker Paolo Viscardi, making more classical guitars. At the end of 2000 he was offered a position in Tom Ribbeckes workshop in Healdsburg, CA, where he stayed for a year making archtop, semi-hollow and steel string guitars, and working for local luthier's supply company Luthier's Mercantile, doing custom work. A full time position followed at Allied Lutherie, cutting precious rosewoods, grading wood and basically gaining a lot of hands-on experience on many different guitar-making materials.
In April 2002 he went back to Europe, this time to Spain, where he took a guitar making class in Cordoba with master guitar maker Francisco Santiago Marin. He now resides in Granada, and continues to make fine concert classical guitars.