About Jost Thöne
In 1988 Jost Thöne started his business in Germany. Since more than 35 years he connects some of the world finest instruments with soloists, collectors & investors. Besides producing the technical literature and documentations on Stradivari instruments, he advices foundations and private investors regarding portfolios of stringed instruments.
Profession
Jost Thöne, son of music pedagogue and composer Karl Thöne (1924-1993), was born in Germany near Düsseldorf. Continuing the Thöne family tradition, he studied music and viola at the Academies in Dortmund and Münster in Germany. In the course of his studies, he also spent a great deal of time learning about the art of violin making and its history. After completing his studies, Thöne decided to become a dealer in fine stringed instruments, with shops in Germany and in Italy.
Publishing House
Since 1998, when he established the publishing house “Jost Thöne Verlag”, Jost Thöne has published large books about the Italian and French violin makers of the last four centuries. These reference works feature more than 120 of these important violin makers along with their instruments and biographies.The latest of these works was “Antonio Stradivari”, published in 2010; it became “the state of the art” in violin documentation, showing in four volumes 300 violins, violas and cellos of the icon Antonio Stradivari in life size. This documentation gained international recognition.
Events & Keynotes
Jost Thöne is a requested speaker on topics like “Mythos Stradivari” or “Scientific research on Stradivari instruments”.
For example Jost Thöne founded the Violin Expo Cologne in 2006, creating a globally unique stage to present international contemporary violin making in the historic centre of Cologne. He supervised the exhibition “Antonio Stradivari – Myth and Music” in Cologne in 2010 as a guest curator of the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Foundation Corboud. This exhibition was unfortunately postponed due to culture budget cuts by the city of Cologne.
Consulting
Thanks to his many years of experience in the industry and his extensive network Jost Thöne is highly requested as a consultant regarding Stradivari by collectors, musicians and other institutions worldwide.