Hideaki Kotera, born in Kyoto, Japan in 1992.
At the age of 10, he started learning to play the violin under Ikuko Tajima.
  In 2014 he entered "Antonio Stradivari" violin making school in Cremona.
During the school period, he studied the violin making under the guidance of Vanna Zambelli and Massimo Negroni, instrument set up and repair under Dario Occhipinti and Alessandro Voltini.
  In 2015 he started to study more the “style” of violin making in the workshop of Master violin maker Alessandro Menta in Cremona.
  In 2019 he graduated from the "Antonio Stradivari" violin making school in Cremona and he started playing the violin in the orchestra in Conservatory in Parma. At same time he continued to make violin, viola and cello while listening to practical opinions on acoustics.  In 2022 he opened his workshop in laboratory of Alessandro Menta and he became professional member of A.L.I. (Italian String Instrument Makers Association).
  In 2023 he became professional member of Kansai String Instrument Makers Association in Japan.
 In 2025 he opened an independent workshop in Cremona.

Awards 

Gold medal for cello at the 12th International ANLAI violin making competition in Pisogne, Italy in 2021

Bronze medal for viola at the 13th International ANLAI violin making competition in Pisogne, Italy in 2022

Photo memories

My very first label idea, hand-drawn by Master Menta. I liked it so much that I later extracted the logo design as is.

In the workshop with my Master Alessandro Menta.

In the laboratory of violin making school in Cremona in 2018

Concert in Conservatory in Parma in 2021

Gold medal for cello at the 12th International ANLAI violin making competition in Pisogne, Italy in 2021

With my Master Alessandro Menta in Pisogne in 2021

Bronze medal for viola at the 13th International ANLAI violin making competition in Pisogne, Italy in 2022

Special lecture “The world of violin making” at Kwansei Gakuin University in Japan in 2024