Peter was born in 1947 in Jersey City, New Jersey. He became interested in making violins when he saw his father’s violin which was originally purchased by his Belarussian grandfather, Pawel Voinilovitch, on the lower east side of New York City around 1920.

As an undergraduate in the 1960s, Peter listened to the records made by old-time Appalachian fiddle and banjo players and became fascinated with that culture, in particular with the violin, or fiddle.

After finishing his Ph.D. in 1976 in American Literature and American Religious History, Peter took a job as an assistant professor of English and American Studies at the University of New Mexico. In 1977, he met Sid Fleming, an old Texas-style fiddler and violin maker who had actually come to New Mexico from Texas in a covered wagon. Sid taught Peter to make two violins. The following year, Peter discovered that a close neighbor, Retired Major General John Honeycutt, was a violin maker of some reputation who had studied with well-known Pennsylvania violin maker Ed Campbell. For two years Peter worked on a single violin under the close supervision of John Honeycutt.

In 1980, Peter was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to teach in Poland, during the birth of the anti-communist movement called Solidarity. Peter sought out two of the best violin makers in Poland: Jan Pawlikowski from Karkow, and Rajmund Swirek from Katowice, in Silesia. During the week Peter studied with Rajmund, whose father had worked with famous violin makers in Paris, France. On Saturdays he took the crowded train to Krakow and studied in the old fashioned violin shop of esteemed violin maker Jan Pawlikowski and his brother-in-law, apprentice Wladyslaw Stopka. This European experience changed Peter’s life in many ways.

In the late 1980s, Peter formed a partnership with Katie Harlow and David Kurland to open Old World Violins, a shop that attracted Wladyslaw Stopka, and Ken Keppeler, a former accordion maker from Louisiana. The shop specialized in the traditional methods of making fine violins. Several local people joined the shop as apprentices, and Old World Violins sold instruments to members of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, and similar orchestras throughout the country. Well-known folk musicians like Norman and Nancy Blake and Peter Ostrushko, and many others, bought the hand made violins, violas, and cellos from Old World Violins.

During this time Peter and his associates were featured in local and national magazines, like Albuquerque Magazine, The Albuquerque Journal, Americana Magazine, Bluegrass Unlimited, Strings Magazine, and several others. An episode of KNME’s “Colores” featured the work of Peter, Wladyslaw, and Keppeler.

As time moved on, Peter accepted several administrative assignments at the University of New Mexico, including Dean of University College and Vice-Provost for Undergraduate Education. But throughout all this time, he continued to make violins, violas and cellos. In 2008, Peter decided to return to the classroom at UNM full-time. In addition to English and American Studies, Peter teaches the history of the violin in New Mexico under a program he created, called the New Mexico Musical Heritage Project. Peter accepted nine undergrads and two graduate students into this program. They plan to attend the 13th Triennial Antonio Stradivari Violin Makers Contest and Convention in Cremona Italy in the Fall of 2009.

Ken Keppeler was born in Los Angeles in 1945. He started playing music at about 12 years of age. He taught himself to play guitar and piano. He learned hamonica from his father and madolin from his friend Stuart Fox's father, a Russian Jew who had escaped during a pogram.

After returning from Vietnam in 1966, Ken worked in Los Angeles and graduated from East Los Angeles City College in 1970. After moving to Santa Barbara, he learned to play the fiddle and banjo and started playing for dances. He spent time with Peter Feldmann and Earl Collins learning traditional tunes and techniques. In 1971, he built a lap dulcimer. Around 1973, he went to Louisiana and met many fine Cajun musicians, such as the Balfa Bros., Dennis McGee, Marc Savoy, Raymond François, Canray Fontenot and Bois Sec Ardoin. He also met Lionel LeLeux, who was a violin maker, which sparked his interest in instrument making.

In the early spring of 1978, he met Jeanie McLerie, a fantastic singer and musician. They lived together there until 1980, when they moved to New Mexico.

Ken and Jeanie met Peter White in 1982. He made them a 5-string violin, which they still use today. To pay for the violin, Ken did work for Peter, including some carpentry. Peter noticed that he was quite handy and asked him to carve a violin scroll. They have worked together since, making violins together and individually.

In 1992 and 1993, Ken did some work for the Smithsonian Institute collecting music and helping to arrange musicians and cowboys for the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival, which featured New Mexico.

Ken and Jeanie moved to Silver City, New Mexico in 1997. Ken loves making violins and helping others to learn the skill.

Cedra Wood was born and raised in the Texas panhandle. She graduated from Austin College in 2005 with a BA in Fine Arts, and together with a group of North Texas artists, helped to form the Ghost Town Arts Collective, serving on the board as Education Coordinator for two years. During this time, she also served as resident artist and classroom assistant at Belden Street Montessori School before moving to New Mexico and enrolling in the MFA Painting & Drawing program at UNM in 2007.

As a graduate student, Cedra has been involved in several projects both inside and outside of the Art Department, including serving as assistant to New York artist Carter Hodgkin, traveling the Southwest as a member of the 2009 Land Arts program, being part of an effort to preserve vintage Edward Curtis prints, teaching drawing and 2-D design courses at UNM, creating textbook illustrations for UNM Press, working collaboratively with lithography students at the Tamarind Institute, and of course, participating in the New Mexico Musical Heritage Project.

Among these experiences, learning to make violins through the NMMHP has been the most unexpected, and among the most rewarding. In addition to her work in the violin shop and in the classroom, Cedra continues to paint full-time in preparation for her Thesis exhibition, scheduled to take place in October of 2010.