Valentino Natolini was born in 1976 in Lugano.
In 2000 he graduated from the I.P.A.L.L. “Antonio Stradivari” School of Violin Making in Cremona under the guidance of masters Massimo Negroni, Wanna Zambelli and Claudio Amighetti.

During the same period he attended the complementary specialization courses organized by the Lombardy Region and did his apprenticeship in the workshop of Giorgio Grisales.
Since 2001, he has been working at Giorgio Lanini’s workshop in Locarno, where he maintains and restores stringed instruments.

Given his passion and knowledge for mandolins, he was called by the School of Violinmaking to collaborate in cataloging antique plucked instruments from an important private collection. Hence the cue to start with Giorgio Lanini to build Neapolitan mandolins.

In 2003 he also worked at Maurizio Tadioli’s in Cremona building stringed instruments. At the same time, in his own violin-making workshop in Barbengo, he mainly does construction work, working for Swiss and foreign musicians.

In 2005 together with Giorgio Lanini he formed LANINI & NATOLINI SA, later becoming its owner. A couple of years later he added double basses to his repertoire.

Through interaction with other professionals, from 2020 he began a new period of construction based on historical research of classical Cremonese instruments, focusing on the choice of materials and accuracy of detail. At the same time, at the request of Mattia Zappa, an internationally renowned cellist, he creates the 5-string cello taking inspiration from the ancient “little cello.” Valentino passes on his passion for his work to his children, letting them experiment alongside him with using the tools, stroking the well-sanded wood, and spreading the varnish.