St. Petersburg man still makes violins by hand

Peter White began making violins in the 1970s. His instruments have been played by classical musicians all over the world.

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida – The most expensive violin of all time is valued at $ 20 million and is on display in a museum in Oxford, England. Peter White is not quite at this level, but the St. Petersburg violin maker has been building world-class instruments for 50 years.

“It’s about my fascination with trying to work like the old Italian violin makers of the 17th century,” he said from his studio in St. Petersburg on 23rd Street S that I would be good. “

His fascination with the stringed instrument began as a young man. His father had got a violin from his father. It wasn’t used. When White got into college, he fixed it. He liked it so much that he looked around the property for sale. At a young age he developed a passion for woodworking and decided to turn this renewed interest into violin making.

“I come to this place and it’s very meditative,” said White, who plays “ancient Appalachian” violin music. “I’m just fascinated by the work itself.”

He doesn’t just build beginner violins. He builds instruments for top musicians all over the world. At times he had five instruments at the same time in the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra.

“I go to the symphony and listen to my violins. It’s a little scary. I was hoping nothing would go wrong, ”he says with a laugh.

Not only has his work been used around the world, but his love of music and the craft has given him the opportunity to travel and learn the craft. In 1980 he spent a little over a year there on a Fulbright scholarship. He loved the people and the experience, but he and his wife found that the state and social environment made life difficult. He lived in Scotland for one summer. His favorite place is Florida.

“I studied with an old man who came to New Mexico from Texas in a covered wagon and then with a retired general,” he said. “Then I went to Poland.”

The first violin made by White was traded in for a motor that he needed. His second sold for $ 35. Now its incredible stringed instruments cost up to $ 16,000 and have been played from the United States to Russia.

But this violin maker is much more interested in music than in money.

“I’m telling you if I didn’t sell a violin for the rest of my life, I wouldn’t be doing anything other than what I’m doing now,” he said. “There are a lot of people out there who value something that will last 300 years.”

White is looking for a potential apprentice to pass on his skills to the next generation.

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