Violin-maker Cesario "Cy" Amesquita says "Day in, day out, I love this." His sell for $6,500.

Chris Richards / Arizona Daily Star

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Across the street from the noise and chatter bouncing off the brick facade of the Tucson High School football stadium, Cesario "Cy" Amesquita quietly creates his own sound.

He makes violins.

His craft is a rare one — even rarer in Tucson. He is one of four local violin makers by his count.

It's a skill handed down several centuries and one he relishes with subdued passion. "Day in, day out, I love this," said the 30-year-old craftsman.

Amesquita is part of a small wave of young violin makers who have taken up the art form in recent years.

"For a long time there were only a few violin makers. Today many of the young violin makers don't own a shop. But they're busy making violins in their homes," Amesquita said.

He is enamored with the back-and-forth movement of a wood file, the smell of a freshly lacquered violin and the perfect pitch of notes coaxed from a bow gliding across the four strings. He can wax lyrical about the density of wood, the chemistry of glue and the intonation of strings.

While his passion is rooted in making violins from his own designs, most of his income comes from repairing, restoring and selling manufactured instruments.

He has made several violins and has sold one. He charges $6,500. Some modern handmade violins can cost four to five times that amount.

Amesquita is not daunted by the challenge of selling his creations. He's confident in his violin-making skills and believes he will eventually find buyers.

His studio is in a small, unadorned white building on North Third Avenue, just off East Sixth Street. A small sign is the only indication of what goes on inside.

"Blum and Amesquita — makers, dealers, restorers of fine musical instruments and bows," it says.

Blum is violin maker George Blum, a violinist with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and Amesquita's soon-to-be former partner. Blum's name will remain, said Amesquita.

The shop contains an array of violins, violas, cellos and double basses. One double bass is laid out on a work table, its inside exposed, awaiting Amesquita's hands and eyes.

"It's going to sound a lot better," said Megan Simpson, the owner of the 80-year-old instrument and a University of Arizona music performance junior.

She's excited about the promise of playing her double bass again after the cracks are filled and it is restrung. Her expectation of an improved sound reveals the close relationship she has with her instrument — she misses it dearly.

Amesquita understands the bond between musician and instrument.

He plays the violin with the Sierra Vista Symphony Orchestra and at his Midtown Mormon church. He began playing when he was in the fourth grade in Utah, where he was born.

The orchestra teacher was recruiting students when he heard the violin played. The connection was immediate.

"I was automatically entranced by it. There was no question," he said.

As the years passed and his violin playing improved, his love of the instrument merged with another passion — woodwork. Amesquita had a natural curiosity and a talent to build things. His passions came together after high school when he entered the Violin Making School of America in Salt Lake City. Two years ago, he and his wife came to Tucson.

While he has enough repair work, his sights are set on selling his instruments to someone in town. Tucson is growing, and he hopes there is a correspond-ing growth in appreciation for fine instruments.

"I would like to see my instruments go out and create a name here."

That name, on his labels, would read like this: "Cesario R. Amesquita, Tucson, Arizona."