Making music -- from scratch

One of the youngest violin makers in the Chicago area, William Hoffmann of Prairie View, is coming to the Indian Trails Library in Wheeling this week to share his passion with local patrons.

The program "Violin Connoisseur: How to Make a Violin" takes place at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Hoffmann will give an hour-long demonstration on how to create a violin -- from the beginning stages to the formation of a delicate, stringed instrument.

"We're all about lifelong learning," says Michelle Shapiro, the library's program and special events coordinator. "We aim to educate our patrons about everything under the sun, and we thought this would be fascinating."

Hoffmann restores hundreds of violins and makes new instruments at his shop in Prairie View, near Stevenson High School. But no matter how many he builds, he says, the creativity involved still drives him.

"I just love taking a raw piece of wood, and turning it into something that looks beautiful," Hoffmann says, "and is something that can be kept for years and have a beautiful tone."

Hoffmann started out on the other side of the instrument, as a player, before he became a maker.

As a child, he began studying violin with the Betty Haag Academy, then located at a church in Mount Prospect, now based in Buffalo Grove.

"According to my mom, I had all the makings for it even then," Hoffmann says. "When I was waiting for my lesson, I'd climb under the altar and take the violin apart, and try to put it back together."

He performed with orchestras in elementary and middle schools, before playing at Glenbrook South High School in Glenview, and later Harper College in Palatine. During summers, however, he discovered an interest in the craftsmanship side of the instrument when he spent weeks at a violin-making workshop at the University of New Hampshire.

Hoffmann also studied under Karl Roy, the director of a German violin-making school, who vacationed in New Hampshire.

His experiences led him to receive in 1995 an invitation to attend the instrument restoration workshop at Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, to which he returned for the next two years.

Ten years ago, Hoffmann opened Hoffmann Strings Ltd., in Prairie View, and he hasn't turned back. He rents and restores instruments for students throughout Lake County and the northwest suburbs.

In 2006, Hoffmann received one of two Crystal Apple Awards from Kildeer Countryside School District 96 for his contribution to the school's community.

Now, he hopes to broaden his reach, and promote his love for the instrument, region-wide.

If you go

What: "Violin Connoisseur: How To Make A Violin"

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Indian Trails Library, first floor meeting room, 355 S. Schoenbeck Road, Wheeling

Cost: Free, but registration is suggested

Call: (847) 459-4100 or visit www.indiantrailslibrary.org