Viola #133 By Clifford Roberts, 2003. 16 3/8.”

Clifford Roberts (1953-2010) is most highly regarded as a maker of fine contemporary violas, though his work and life were tragically cut short by a rare neuromuscular disorder which first effected his eyesight.  By the age of 18, Clifford could play ten different instruments, and had already become proficient in several vocations including making instruments, silver jewelry, leather sandals and bags, furniture and linoleum cut prints. His formal training began at the age of 12, working with terra cotta and stone as an advancing sculptor under the direction of Bronka Stern, and then moving on to the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. After which, he moved to Italy and studied at the Scuola Internazionale di Liuteria di Cremona, the International School of Violin Making in Cremona, where his mentors included  Pietro Sgarabotto, Gio Batta Morassi, Francesco Bissolotti and Pier Luigi Galetti. Clifford returned to the United States in 1975, establishing his own atelier in New York. His c