Christian
Managing Director
Electric and folk guitar, electric bass, vocals
The House of Azzato
From Michele Azzato, who set up his workshop in 1919, to today: a century of lutherie in Belgium.
The people behind the Maison Azzato
In our Brussels and Louvain-la-Neuve shops, our team can advise you on choosing an instrument and the right accessories. Each member brings experience and specialist knowledge of one or more instrument families. Meet the people who will guide you and discover their areas of expertise.
Raphaëla
Sales adviser
Violin, viola
Tanguy
Sales adviser and academy contact
Folk and electric guitar, electric bass, keyboards, ukulele
Anthony
Sales adviser and community manager
Folk and electric guitar, electric bass, ukulele, drums, piano
Thierry
Sales advisor Plucked-string luthier
Folk, classical and electric guitar, electric bass, banjo, ukulele
Gaëtan
Sales adviser
Keyboards, folk and electric guitar, electric bass
Maxime
Sales adviser
Folk, classical and electric guitar, ukulele, dobro, banjo, mandolin
Amber
Bowed-string luthier
Cello
Anna
Bowed-string luthier
Baroque cello
Alexandre
Plucked-string luthier
Electric bass
A century of lutherie
- 1887-1918
The man before the atelier
Born in Italy in 1887, Michele Azzato made his way to Paris on foot around age ten. A family of musicians took him in, taught him the violin and introduced him to lutherie. Called up for military service and wounded in 1914, he received the last rites in a military hospital before recovering.
- 1919
The shop at 79 rue des Éperonniers, 1930s The Brussels atelier
After arriving in Belgium, Michele established his atelier first on Rue Blaes and then on Rue du Lombard, before settling at 79 Rue des Éperonniers. There, he made fine mandolins and banjos and sold violins, cellos, double basses, strings and sheet music.
- 1931
Azzato–Jacobacci banjos
The atelier collaborated with the renowned Maison Jacobacci in Paris to produce Azzato–Jacobacci banjos.
- 1950-1960
The guitar and Nicolas Alfonso
After keeping the business going during the war by selling radios and small electrical goods, Michele embraced the guitar’s growing popularity. Nicolas Alfonso, a master guitarist newly arrived in Belgium, became a regular customer, and the shop gradually became central to Brussels’ guitar scene.
- 1968
Azzato changes hands
In his 80’s, Michele passed the shop on to Jacques and Dominique Cormont, two former pupils of Alfonso who had become guitar teachers. They revived the lutherie activity, expanded the range to include world, early and wind instruments, became distributors of Spanish and German brands, and established the Maison as a specialist in stringed instruments. The Adagio music bookshop opened alongside it.
- 1982
Rue de la Violette
The shop moved from Rue des Éperonniers to 42 Rue de la Violette, in the former L’Écu de France restaurant. Michele Azzato died that same year at the age of 95, after a life of more than eighty years shaped by musical instruments.
- 2014
A second shop in Louvain-la-Neuve
Following the involvement of Jacques and Dominique’s children—including Philippe in the instrument shop—Azzato opened a branch in the heart of the university town, serving students, schools and musicians throughout the Walloon Brabant region.
- 2023
Azzato taken over in 2023 by Benoît Goes (left) and Christian Bormans (right) A new chapter
When Philippe retired on 1 September, Christian Bormans, a member of the Azzato team, took over the Maison with his long-time friend Benoît Goes under the Blackbird Music company. They initially focused on folk guitars before expanding the ateliers and appointing two specialist luthiers—one for guitars and one for violin-family instruments.
- 2024
Continuing the work of Hill’s Music
When the Hill's Music shop closed, in March, Azzato ensured its continuity by hiring its mainstay, Thierry Herremans, who continues to maintain the instruments sold by his father and himself over the past fifty years.
That same year, the range of guitars and violins widened to include lesser-known but high-quality makers, for which the house now holds exclusive distribution in Belgium: priority is given to European instruments.
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- 2026
A destination for musicians
Azzato remains a place where musicians can rely on knowledgeable, personal advice. Musicians can try instruments in the shop; our luthiers adjust them in the atelier and continue to care for them long after purchase.
The workshop
The craft of lutherie
Azzato is also an in-house team of luthiers you may not see very often: they keep a small haven of peace conducive to their craft, upstairs in our old house.
1919
Year founded
The year Michele Azzato opened his first workshop.
2
Shops · Brussels and Louvain-la-Neuve
Two addresses, the same care given to every instrument.
+ 3000
Instruments available in our shops
The origins
The man who wanted to see the sun
Michele Azzato was born on 24 April 1887 in Marsico Nuovo, Italy. Around the age of ten, while working as a shepherd, he was driven out of his village, by his own parents among others. Legend has it he had thrown stones at the priest.
He set off on foot and walked all the way to Paris. A family of musicians took him in and taught him the violin. Lutherie already drew him: he quickly learned its rudiments, entered an apprenticeship in a workshop, and played in the evenings to earn a living.
In 1914 he was mobilized. Wounded in combat, he was carried dying to the military hospital, where he received the last rites. To a friend who came to pay him a final visit, he asked to be carried outside: he wanted to see the sun, not die shut indoors. The friend carried him onto a lawn and, so the story goes, played him a tune on the mandolin. Michele recovered.
Five years later he opened his workshop in Brussels. He died in 1982, aged 95, the very year the shop moved to rue de la Violette, where it still stands.
Brussels · Louvain-la-Neuve Come meet
Come meet
us
Push open the door of our shops, with or without an appointment, to understand the house from the inside.