Norbert Abel formed the Abel Hammer Company (Helmut Abel GmbH) in 1982 along with his father, to manufacture piano hammerheads, shanks and flanges for the piano industry. Over the years,...
Philipp Alexander is proud of his musical past. His family formed Musik-Alexander in Mainz, Germany in 1782. They began as brass instrument makers and later opened a music store while con...
Hans-Jorg Andre’s great great grandfather formed Musikhaus Andre Musikverlag Johann Andre in 1774. The company was the first to bring lithograph processes to the production of printed mus...
Winfried Baumbach came to represent the German musical instrument industry beginning in the 1980s. As the managing director of the European Music Industries Association, he has played a ...
Christian Benker has been an influential leader in the German musical instrument manufacturing industry. With fresh ideas and marketing skills he helped Hofner reinvent itself during the ...
Gerhilde Benker served as president of Hofner Music, a firm founded by her grandfather Karl Hofner in 1864 in Eger, Germany. Her father, Walter, was the inventor of the Hofner bass, which...
Frank Bilz applied his passion for music into the expansion of the Markneukirchen Germany music school programs entitled Musicon Valley. As Marketing Director of the school, which is loca...
Thomas Blug was just 17 years old when he began working as a studio musician in his native Germany. He developed his own unique tone, which was based on modifications of his amplifier and...
Ingbert Bluthner followed in the rich history of his family tradition of building world-class pianos. Under Ingbert’s leadership the company expanded production and models along with deve...
Christoph Bull is the organ professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His deep passion for music stems from his grandmother’s piano and his early days playing organ i...
Michael Compernass is the president of the Hoyer Guitar Company in Germany. Michael focuses on the history of the company’s innovative products, particularly those created by Arthur Hoyer...
Sebastian Dirr has relatives that play string instruments professionally, so it was only natural that they welcomed it when Sebastian decided to become a bow maker. After studying musicol...
Irmgard Dittmar has been a part of the music products industry her whole life. Her father was a noted trumpet builder and designer, and she has worked for the Schreiber music company for ...
Theo Dollmann was the sales representative for Schott Music, the famed music publisher located in Mainz Germany. He joined the company in 1939 and continued to work for the company past h...
Hans Dörner grew up in the music town of Schönbach/Luby surrounded by musical instrument makers - including his grandfather the violin maker and tonewood dealer Joseph Trasny and his uncl...
Thomas Dotzauer is a master mandolin builder from the region of famed music instrument production center Bubenreuth in Germany. He did his apprenticeship in guitar production of Walter Ho...
Gerhard Dotzauer has made a living selling musical instrument parts to companies worldwide. He provides bridges, exotic woods, machine heads, and specializes in necks for banjos with moth...
Michael Falkenstein grew up in a very musical family. His father was repairing musical instruments when Michael was a small child. Michael watched his father work in the music industry ...
Dieter Fischer comes from a family of luthiers and started working for Höfner in Bubenreuth when he was 14 years old. He continued working for the next 56 years for Höfner, of which 30 ye...
Ilse Fischer delivered orders for Kirschnek on her scooter to the luthiers of the music town of Schönbach/Luby. Her father, Franz Kirschnek, established the company which specializes in e...
Herbert Fischbach spent his entire working career in the design and crafting of brass musical instruments. As was the tradition in the German village of Markneukirchen, Herbert studied th...
Wolfgang Förster’s family-owned piano company was formed in 1859 by August Förster, who opened a small piano workshop in "Löbau, Germany. Wolfgang grew up in the family business and recal...
Walter Glaßl is leading the Walter Geipel Company known for producing rosin for string instruments in Bubenreuth, now in the third generation. The company was founded 1908 by Walter Geipe...
Heribert Glassl had two musical loves, the tuba and the cello. While it may seem like a strange pairing, Mr. Glassl made it work. In fact, after a long career in musical instrument making...
Manfred Gleissner is a part of Gleissner tonewoods, which is known for supplying high quality tonewood to luthiers around the world. Grandfather Anton Gleissner founded the company with h...
Carsten Göpf has combined his passion for playing the trumpet with an affinity for engineering in his profession as the plant manager for the brass factory at Buffet Crampon in Markneukir...
Klaus Götz’ family comes from Wernitzgrün, a small town not far from Markneukirchen. His grandfather, Conrad August Götz, founded C.A. Götz in 1884 which initially produced tuning pegs an...
Karlheinz Götz was proud of his musical heritage. His grandfather, Conrad August Götz, was the founder of the C.A. Götz Company back in 1884. The company, which was located near Markneukr...
Günter Graulich is the founder of the German music publisher, Carus. The company was established in 1972 with the mission to publish sacred choral music. Since it’s founding, the focus of...
Veronika Gruber was musically trained as a child but did not think of a career in music until she met her husband, Hans, in college. He was a jazz fan who found it difficult to find music...
Richard Grünke of Richard Grünke & Söhne GmbH which is located close to Bubenreuth produces high quality bows. Richard’s sons, Klaus and Thomas, run the business today but their fathe...
Wolfgang Haffner grew up in Germany and began playing drums at a young age. He gravitated towards jazz and one of his first recordings was with Al Cohn in 1987. He went on to record with ...
