First violin played in space made at shop in Albuquerque

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The first ever out of this world idea came to life when an aerospace engineer played a violin not in a concert hall but in outer space. A local violin shop played a key role in making this dream a reality.

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It's an instrument that produces beautiful and striking ballads and at Albuquerque's Robertson and Sons Violin Shop, string instruments line the rooms handcrafted for over fifty years. And now they've made their mark on history.

The sound of strings being played can be heard in Albuquerque but now, people can hear them in outer space. "We were just so pleased to be a part of this special launch and this first performance by a violinist in space," said Barbara Barber, a violinist who works in Sales at Roberston and Sons Violin Shop.

Sara Gillis is a Space X astronaut and the first person to play the instrument without the pull of Earth's gravity. A viral video showed the incorporation of musicians from all around the world including none other than John Williams himself as they played "Rey's Theme."

"Sara said that Rey is her favorite Star Wars character. She's a lot like her, I think. She's adventurous and she's very smart and very talented," said Barber.

Gillis's mother is a longtime friend of Barber, "Sara, I didn't know was working for Space X and she came here almost two years ago; and told us that she was going to be playing a violin in space on a Space X launch and gave us the medallion for the Polaris Dawn space mission."

Robertson and Sons very own Chris Pederson, a world-renowned violin maker who has been at the shop for over 25 years, was Gillis' clear choice for the job. "So, she took two of them back with her and we also sent a third violin. They had to do quite a bit of testing, pre-flight testing before we finally had the fourth violin, which is the one that did go into space," said Barber.

It was a long-awaited process that called for major testing and adjustments. "They would not let her take a full-size violin bow, there was no room for it so she's actually playing with a quarter size bow. Which is a real challenge because that's a kid size bow," said Barber.

But in the end, the mission was a success. "We were thrilled with it, and I know that she was too. She looked awesome, especially her hair. And we don't know how she kept the bow on the string because you use the weight, the gravity of your arm, and the bow to play the violin. We don't know how she managed that," said Barber.

Robertson and Sons donated the one-of-a-kind violin to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital which is auctioning it off to raise money.