Real Viola for Young Players

Made in Vermont, USA

The 12" viola is the next step for a young violist growing out of their first instrument but not yet ready for a 13" or 14". Like every size in our line, it's modeled directly from our full 16" viola and scaled down — never a violin body pressed into service as a viola, a shortcut that leaves students fighting an instrument that was never built to produce a true C-string tone.

It's built by the same master luthiers, from the same care in graduating the top and back plates, as our full-size violas — because the instrument a student learns on now shapes the ear and the technique they'll carry for years. Fingerboard and bridge geometry are viola-specific throughout, so reaching for a rich, resonant sound doesn't require fighting the instrument itself.

RENT HERE - https://www.vrichelieu.com/rent-a-v-richelieu

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High-Quality Materials

Every V. Richelieu™ is made entirely in our Vermont workshop, hand-graduated by senior luthiers who thin each top and back to precise, individually judged measurements — not a factory template. Our spruce is hand-split and sourced from Italy and Switzerland; our maple comes from Bosnia. Where we can, we build with FSC®-certified tonewoods and offer GaiaTone and Sonowood as ebony-alternative fittings, so exceptional sound doesn't come at the expense of the forests it depends on. The oil-based varnish on every instrument is hand-painted by an accomplished oil portrait artist — a detail most makers at this price point skip entirely.