Our History

Founder of Cremonasia, Jacques Gagnon, is a long established and widely experienced figure in the world of the double bass. A student of Anselme Fortier, who was principal bassist with the New York Philharmonic in the late 1940's, Gagnon started his career with his native city's Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, followed by a one-year stint with the Halifax Symphonette in Nova Scotia after which he joined the Montreal Symphony in 1955 and remained a member for twenty years.

Fascinated from the beginning by vintage instruments, and fluent in several languages, Gagnon took advantage of his orchestra European tours to scour the continent's out-of-the-way monasteries, chapels, conservatories, village orchestras in search of antique double basses. He found many and, over time, assembled an unprecedented collection of forgotten, neglected instruments, many of them of fine pedigree. Lovingly restored by the finest luthiers in Montreal, Toronto and New York, these instruments were used by Gagnon himself or redistributed to top players and orchestras the world over, earning him an international reputation as a leading source of fine double basses.

In the late 1970's, the adventurer in Gagnon found him sailing the high seas in his own ketch. Further travels took him to the Far East, where he discovered the special sensitive touch of the Filipino stringed instrument makers, born of their native affinity for working with wood, and honed by centuries of Spanish influence. Assembling a small group of talented luthiers, and guiding them with his own extensive knowledge and experience of the double bass, in 1985 Gagnon established a double bass atelier in Manila, later moving it to Angeles City in 1995 where the reasonable labor costs made it possible to produce very fine instruments at an affordable price.

Standing as a legacy to this lifetime passion for the contrabass, today, countless beautiful basses, both fine vintage instruments reborn, as well as exquisite reproductions of classic instruments developed and produced by Gagnon and his artisans, make music in leading orchestras and ensembles worldwide. Gagnon is particularly proud to have been commissioned by the Gary Karr Foundation to make the replica of Mr. Karr's famous Amati double bass that was presented to the first-prize winner of the International Society of Bassists competition at its New York convention in 1990.

Continuing this tradition, Cremonasia provides double basses, cellos, violas da gamba and accessories throughout North America, Europe, Australia and Asia through a network of shops, dealers and contacts, and now, to discriminating buyers over the Internet.