SALT LAKE CITY — It’s not widely known, but a small shop in Salt Lake City is making sweet music as the oldest violin-making school in the country.

Since 1972, the violin making school has been located at the southeast corner of 200 South and 300 East.

“It just sounds pretty cool and tempting,” said student Gabriel Fuguracion. “You know, there’s a certain mystery about violin makers. How do they do it?”

This is where the owner and director of the school come into play.

Sanghoon Lee, himself a former student, left Korea to learn the craft of violin making under the legendary Peter Prier, the school’s founder. Lee believes the school’s reputation attracts students from all walks of life and that no previous musical knowledge is necessary.

“It’s not necessary to know anything about violin making, music theory or performance, nothing at all. We can teach you how to become a violin maker,” Lee said.

The school’s program typically lasts three years.

Third-year student Jonas Refsgaard from Denmark receives the Career Change Award. He has a PhD in nuclear physics and was working in a lab in Vancouver when he decided during the pandemic that he needed to pursue his true passion.

“I think the idea of ​​becoming a violin maker came to mind when I was a teenager, but I thought I rejected it because it wasn’t serious enough or something,” Refsgaard said. “I felt like I needed to pursue an academic career, but then somehow the idea came back to me.”

The school’s curriculum includes lessons in playing the instrument if the students do not yet master it.

Sophomore Less Lynn said his violin playing has improved tremendously since attending the school, which in turn helps him produce violins that are pleasing to the ear.

“It especially helps me to recognize what sound quality I should pay attention to in my productions,” said Lynn.

Attention to detail and focus are some of the qualities needed to become a world-class violin maker – a process that can be rewarding in unexpected ways.

“A lot of the steps are really meditative,” Fuguracion said. “It’s like looking at something and comparing it, and you’re just making very conscious movements in what you’re doing, and I just find a kind of peace in that.”