LIFEM | 13-16 November 2024

Von Huene

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The von Huene Workshop, Inc. was founded in 1960 by Friedrich von Huene, a pioneer in the reproduction of historical woodwinds for over half a century. Born and raised in Germany, he emigrated to the US in 1948 and served as a flutist in the US Air Force. In 1956 he graduated from Bowdoin College (ME) and began a four year apprenticeship with the legendary flute maker Verne Q. Powell. He began producing his own recorders in 1960 and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1966 for a comparative study of historical woodwinds, becoming one of the first makers to produce copies of original 18th century recorders. Mr. von Huene designed the extraordinarily popular Rottenburgh recorders for Moeck as well as the first high-quality plastic recorders for Zen-On.

After a successful career as a professional chef, Patrick von Huene joined the von Huene Workshop as an apprentice in 1982. For more than a quarter century now he has overseen production for the workshop and his craftsmanship and expertise are legendary (as Dan Laurin put it, "Nobody knows a windway like Patrick von Huene!"). When not carving recorders, he enjoys exotic automobiles, fine cooking and jazz.

Today the workshop is renowned for making some of the finest recorders available in the world. We are also the North American repair agents for Moeck, Mollenhauer, Küng, Aafab and others. Patrick von Huene and Roy Sansom offer skilled repairs for all makes and models of recorders.

In conversation with Patrick von Huene

von Huene Stanesby, Jr. alto recorder (played by James Young)

von Huene Denner alto recorder (played by Martin Bernstein)

von Huene Terton soprano and Loeki a=415 tenor

von Huene Scherer alto recorder, a=392 (played by Emily O’Brien)

The Von Huene Workshop