De Leeuw invited to the Opéra Bastille for Tous à l'Opéra

On 6, 7 and 8 May 2022, the fifteenth edition of Tous à l'Opéra opened France's opera houses to the public. Held under the banner "Pleins feux sur les ateliers: de la facture instrumentale aux arts de la scène" — a spotlight on the workshops, from instrument making to the stage crafts — the edition honoured French instrument making, in a partnership between the Réunion des Opéras de France, the association of French opera houses, and the trade bodies of French instrument making, the Chambre Syndicale de la Facture Instrumentale and the Chambre Syndicale des Métiers de la Musique.

For the occasion, the Opéra national de Paris gathered for the first time, in the public spaces of the Opéra Bastille, more than fourteen master artisans: makers of stringed and wind instruments, of pianos and harpsichords, of percussion and brass, and one maker of electric guitars. That maker was the De Leeuw atelier. It was not yet a year old.

On Saturday 7 May, the atelier presented its first pieces to the public, alongside houses and makers such as Pleyel, Bergerault and Adrien Jaminet. The instruments were played in the foyers of the Opéra Bastille, in the hands of Swan Vaude and Alexandre Carruana.

The electric guitar stood that day among the instruments France has made for centuries — the violins, the pianos, the brass, each carried by its own tradition of making. To give it one of its own: that is the conviction on which the atelier was founded, and it already stood complete on the workbenches of the Opéra Bastille. Lutherie, fine cabinetmaking, marquetry and sculpture, united in a single hand, that of Quentin De Leeuw.

Three years later, the Nina Air stood on the presidential tribune at the Élysée Palace. Four years later, the State awarded the atelier the Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant label (France's Living Heritage Company). The first invitation had come from the Opéra.

Article published 10 May 2022, updated 21 August 2026.