Later it moved to Piasco, a small village nestled in the rolling hills of northern Italy where the tradition of wood working dates back to medieval times. The Salvi Harps Company was founded in Genoa, at the beautiful Villa Maria. In 1955 Victor moved to Italy in the quest for his roots and in the search of craftsmanship. The first prototype came to live in 1954, in a basement workshop in New York. The drive was to construct an instrument that would have a better mechanism and thus better sound. He began studying the science of the instrument whilst in the Navy and after consulting with engineers and experts he embarked on building his very own harp. Victor was not only a harpist but also a harp maker. Alberto, the eldest son, was also a harpist whose prosperous career made the celebrated Nicanor Zabaleta declared him as "The greatest harpist of all time". His sister Aida, the harpist of the Chicago Opera House and a well-known composer, was Victor's first tutor of the harp. Rodolfo immigrated to Chicago with his family fleeing the First World War and it was here where Victor was born. He was the youngest son of Rodolfo Salvi, a talented Venetian violinmaker and harp restorer from Venice, who lived in Viggiano, a small town in the South of Italy renowned for its harpists. "Victor Salvi was born in Chicago in the 1920s. Its owner because of its liability to get out of order easily let usīuild a harp that will go around the world without loosening a screw.”įor 125 years, Lyon & Healy artisans have maintained Healy’sĬommitment to a practice of old-world craftsmanship while embracing Most basic motivation: “Let us build a harp that will no longer worry Set the stage for decade after decade of groundbreaking innovation inĮngineering and craftsmanship. Instrument already thought to be perfect. Young and ambitious Healy which drove the company to improve an It was the sincere love of music and the enterprising nature of the Healy, Lyon & Healy built its first harp, Model 21 #501, in 1889. "Lyon and Healy was founded in Chicago in 1864 by George Washburn Lyon and Patrick J.