Oleg is a quality craftsman, self-critically demanding of the highest standards in his own work, who uses classical violinmaking methods for his very modern viola shapes.

He is extremely particular about all the materials he uses in his violas and has located certain non-traditional wood, especially African, to replace the type of wood (often rare and no longer available) that was used in classical violas, without sacrificing the quality of the sound.

He imports rosewood from Indonesia and Vietnam, maple from USSR and Canada, spruce from USSR and hard pear from Africa, the latter a concentrated wood eminently suited to the back of the viola as it promotes a full, deep bass quality to the instrument.

He has found the Cape Town weather conditions surprisingly conducive to the aging of the instrument as the wood dries with a special quality which enhances its condition and causes the viola to age ten times faster than it would in Europe, for instance, resulting in a rapid increase in the quality of sound and the value of the instrument.

He has a highly personalised measuring system and proportionate design technique, which he spent years in developing. The violas in his current portfolio range from 390 to 420mm with a 5mm-10mm proportionate enlargement or reduction on each one to suit individual requirements.

It may be noted that two measurements are provided for each viola e.g. 390 / 385mm. The first (larger) measurement is the actual size of the viola, a result of the clear bottom rib system which provides more air inside the instrument creating a bigger sound acoustically while the physical perception is that of playing an instrument with the second (lower) measurement. Further specifications such as the thickness, height and angle of the fingerboard etc are all taken into consideration.

The clear bottom rib system and the original and unique tailpiece chinrest system (patent pending) were developed specifically to promote the essential comfort and anatomical safety of the player.

Oleg’s refusal to use synthetic chemicals on any instruments results in his using only rare and expensive glue imported from the Volga River in USSR and importing his rosins from the Arabic countries and India for varnishing, a process on which he spends the longest time in his creation of a new viola.

He also pays a great deal of time and attention to fine-tuning each viola himself, an aspect which he considers to be vital and one which he believes needs to be carried out by a trained musician and performer who plays the viola himself and knows the instrument inside out - in Oleg’s case, this is certainly true.