Stephen Raphael Marchione

Stephen Raphael Marchione (born in 1966 in Boston, Massachusetts) Marchione is an American luthier working in Houston,TX. His INSTRUMENTS are played by many notable guitarist such as Mark Whitfield, John Abercrombie, Paul Simon, Mark Knopfler.

Marchione attended the University of Houston and later Naropa University in Boulder, CO. At both universities he explored his passion for music, and he performed jazz guitar in a number jazz ensembles. He graduated in 1989 with degrees in Music performance and Comparative Religious studies.

After completing his degrees, he moved to New York City to pursue his passion of MusicAL instrument design, construction, and restoration. In 1993, after three years of intensive instrument building and restoration work for Pensa-Suhr Guitars now known as Pensa Custom Guitars and Suhr Guitars, Marchione opened his own studio in Manhattan – Marchione Guitars – where he built many guitars for New York City’s top guitar players. This Manhattan studio remained the company’s home for eight years until Marchione and his family moved back to his hometown of Houston in 2001.

In addition to offering a wide variety of guitars and violins, Marchione crafts Classical guitars, Flamenco guitars, Archtop guitars, a fretless bass guitar, and several models of solid-body electric guitars. He also makes violins in the Stradivari and Guarneri patterns, designing the instruments from scratch for his own studio, as well as for any clients or companies seeking high-quality commercial designs.