Born From A Region Known For Its Prized Tonewoods,
Hora’s Stringed Instruments Are Now Sold Worldwide
The town of Reghin in the Carpathian Mountains of northern Romania is sometimes known as the “Town Of Violins.” Because of local woods prized for their acoustic qualities and stability, the region has given rise to a highly skilled woodworking industry, including numerous stringed instrument workshops. The oldest of these, Hora S.A., was founded in 1951. Over 60 years the company has grown from a small workshop producing a handful of violins each year to a major source for bowed instruments of all types, plus guitars and rare ethnic instruments that are sold around the world.
Established by maestro luthiers Alexandru Apateanu and Roman Boianciuc, Hora produced just 37 finely crafted violins in its first year of operation. A year later, production had shot up to 400 and continued to rise as demand increased for new stringed instruments built from coveted local tonewoods. By the late ’50s Hora had added not only guitars and mandolins but traditional Russian and Ukrainian instruments such as the balalaika and domra. Starting around 1960, the company began its shift from small instrument workshop to large-scale manufacturer. New woodworking machines and precision tooling would automate much of the operation, allowing Hora to increase its production severalfold.
Today, Hora S.A. produces 90,000 instruments annually—only 12,000 of which fall into its original bowed instruments category. Its product line now ranges from violins, violas, cellos and double basses; to acoustic guitars and ukuleles; to traditional and ethnic instruments including the Irish bouzouki, dulcimer, psaltery, cobza, and panflute. The company also builds educational instruments for children, including xylophones and small harps. “We’re proud to say that our sales have continued trending up in recent years, an increase of 5-8% each year,” says Hora Marketing Manager Marius Harpa. “Like other European and American producers, we’re always subject to competition from low-cost overseas manufacturers, but we’ve tried to position our products at a higher level of quality, while keeping an affordable price, and we’ve done so very successfully.”
For the past 21 years, Hora S.A. has been led by Nicolae Bazgan, a graduate of Brasov, Romania’s Faculty of Wood Industry (now part of the University of Brasov), who has been with Hora since 1965. After first rising to the position of sector manager, he was named general manager in 1990. Under Bazgan and his management team, the company has undertaken a sweeping modernization effort, pursuing both technical innovations and environmental upgrades. In one of its most recent advances, water-based finishing treatments have replaced nitrocellulose varnishes on many instruments, a move aimed at reducing chemical emissions. “More and more instruments are being varnished with environmentally friendly water-based materials,” says Harpa. “This idea has been very well received by our customers.”
A presence at Musikmesse fairs for the past 35 years, Hora S.A. now sells to customers in dozens of countries worldwide. Just 10% of its products are sold to customers in Romania, a relatively small market. The majority are channeled through a sprawling distribution network that covers much of Western Europe, including the U.K. and the Scandinavian countries, as well as North America, Israel, Russia, and Japan. The growth of e-commerce and internet marketing has also allowed Hora to make inroads in countries where it hasn’t yet established distribution channels. “We’re in a continuous process of improving both the quality of the instruments and the efficiency of our work,” says Harpa. “The combination of our traditional craftsmanship and technical expertise has given us a unique and valued position in this market.”
www.hora.ro
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