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German Musical Instrument Prize for 2008 goes to three instrument makers in the categories of concert guitar and bass clarinet Three musical-instrument makers, from Freiburg, Füssen and Markneukirchen, will be receiving the German Musical Instrument Prize this year, in the categories of guitar and bass clarinet. This prize, awarded by the Ministry of Economics & Technology (BMWi), is given in recognition of very high-quality products from musical-instrument makers. It has been presented annually since 1991 at Musikmesse in Frankfurt am Main, in two varying categories. This year the prizes will be presented at 6.00 p.m. on Thursday 13 March in the Café Classic in Hall 1.2 of the Frankfurt Fair & Exhibition Centre, in the presence of the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Economics & Technology, Dagmar Wöhrl, Member of the German Bundestag. The German Musical Instrument Prize for 2008 in the category of Concert Guitar goes to two German Instrument-Manufactures, whose instruments were considered equally the best in the field of Concert Guitar. Sascha Nowak, guitar maker of Freiburg, and Urs Langenbacher, master stringed-instrument maker of Füssen. Sascha Nowak’s guitar received by far the highest acoustic rating in the field physical-technical examination. The test musicians particularly praised the brilliant height and excellent plasticity of sound provided by the instrument. The jury describes its Spanish-dry tone as very balanced, and they expressly praised its good price-performance ratio, as well as its ease of playing and “successful overall design.” Nowak founded his one-man business in 1990, initially as a dealership in music supplies with a repair service, and over the years developed increasingly in the direction of guitar making. The two famous guitar builders Rolf Eichinger and Kolya Panhuyzen were a formative influence on his work.
Urs Langenbacher’s guitar impressed the jury by its individual design and exclusive wood selection. The jury’s assessment emphasised both its voluminous sound, which is very clear up to high registers, and the design of its divided and adjustable bridge. The guitar received the highest rating by musicians of all participating instruments. Following his training at the State School for Violin Building and Stringed-Instrument Makers in Mittenwald, Langenbacher worked for some years as a journeyman, later as a master, in the workshop of the master violin builder Pierre Chaubert in Füssen, before setting up on his own in 1999. Langenbauer’s speciality is that of making new concert guitars, lutes and mandolins, and restoring and maintaining them.
The German Musical Instrument Prize for 2008 in the category of Bass Clarinet goes to the Oskar Adler 510 model from Gebrüder Mönnig, Oscar Adler & Co. Holzblasinstrumentenbau GmbH of Markneukirchen in Saxony. The test musicians were highly enthusiastic about the quite particular sound of this instrument and of the tone of its Bottom C. They said it had not only outstanding dynamic characteristics, but a remarkable balance in the high register.
This company will be exhibiting during Musikmesse in Hall 1.1, Stand H 33. To find the prize-winners, the instruments submitted to the jury must undergo a three-stage trial: five musicians assess the instruments by playing them, then their acoustic characteristics are determined “objectively, without any player input.” In a third stage an expert assesses the instruments to gauge their craftsmanship. The German Musical Instrument Prize for 2009 will be awarded in the categories of F Tuba (cylinder valve) and 4/4 violin. Close of registrations for entries to the Institute of Musical Instrument Making will be 11 April 2008. |
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