The violin is a piece of New Mexican history brought to the state by Franciscan priests. And for years, the art of violin making and playing flourished in the state.
"In New Mexico, we used to have a tremendous tradition of violin making," said Peter White, professor of American Studies at UNM.
But over time, the number of violin players has diminished.
"The Hispanic folk music of New Mexico started to die away, because there was a lack of interest in it, and times changed," he said.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
But next fall, UNM will offer a four-semester program on violin making, and White, a violinist, will teach the class. The class will hold only eight students each semester. White said he wants students to take the class who are interested in revitalizing the culture of New Mexico and the tradition of its violin music.
"I want to train full-time enrolled students in a four-semester course how to make and play these tunes," he said.
To make the violins, students will use digital images to reproduce replicas of world-famous violins to be used in the class, White said.
White's plan is that students will finish the class with a violin they will have built, as well as the skills needed to play it after four semesters, he said.
In addition to the course, White said he wants to take his students to Cremona, Italy, for the International Violin Makers Exhibition and Competition where he wants to make an impression on the international violin-playing community. "I want to go there as representatives of the first people to make violins in what is now the United States," he said.
White said he wants students to understand the program is an opportunity they can't get anywhere else.
"We will be the only research university in America teaching violin making," he said.
In addition to the making of violins, White said he will teach the history of the instrument and its music in New Mexico.
The violin's history in the area dates back to the late 1500s and early 1600s when dances called the Matachines choreographed to violins were performed in religious processions.
Brenda Romero, head of ethnomusicology at the University of Colorado, played Matachines music at the Jemez Pueblo for nine years and also trained some local fiddlers.
"After 500 years, the only place where (the dance) really looks like the way it might have looked first is New Mexico, where it has more of the Spanish or Iberian character," Romero said.
Greg Cajete, chairman of Native American Studies, said he hopes there will be a new generation of young Hispanic and American Indian violin players with knowledge of the songs that were played in the Matachines.
To influence younger generations, White said the first step will be to change the way children see the violin.
He said he wants to offer a free after-school program for children in the community who want to learn how to play the violin and learn about its place in New Mexican culture. The after-school program would provide children with instruments to use as well as free lessons, he said.
Romero said the new program will be a way to promote the tradition to a generation that doesn't have access to it.
"It is a tradition that can get stronger and develop in various ways," Romero said. "When I was little, we had little theatrical things that we did in our schools in northern New Mexico, but it seems over the years, a lot of that has diminished."
White said though the program and the class are experiments, he is receiving a tremendous amount of support from the University and community - enough support, he said, he hopes will revitalize the violin and its music in New Mexico.
