Ivano Coratti was born in 1933 at Ospital Monacale in the northern Italian province of Ferrara. He was already a carpentry apprentice when he enrolled in the clarinet class at the Conservatoire of Bologna where he received diplomas in both clarinet and bassoon playing He later joined one of the Bologna orchestras.

Coratti began making string instruments on his own in 1964. His triumph at a competition of violinmakers in 1973 led to a meeting with G. B. Morassi, whose profound and extensive knowl-edge in the art of classical Cremonese string instrument making helped Coratti to improve his technical and artistic capabilities.

In 1979 he became a founding member of the A. L. I. (Italian Luthiers Association) and served as Vice President of the newly formed group. Between 1981 and 1985 he taught violin making at the Conservatoire G. Frescobaldi of Ferrara.

In respect to his own string instrument making, he feels that: “Nothing else in this world gives me more joy than to construct my instruments, despite the fact that after the work is completed, there always remains something unsatisfactory for me. The very small disappointment leads me simply to a continued research and perhaps this very aspect of instrument making is what interests me most.