Meet our Members!
Our regular alphorn players from the midwest region are seen below. We are proud to claim Dr. Peggy DeMers, Professor of Horn at Sam Houston State University, Texas, as an honorary member and mentor. Read about Peggy.
Karl Beck
Karl was born in Waukegan, IL in 1949, the son of Karl M. and Ann (nee Werner Von Steinbrecher) Beck. Karl is a retired electrical engineer and has played French horn since 1958. After touring the Stocker Alphorn factory in Lucerne, Switzerland, Karl orderd an authentic Swiss Stocker Alphorn, "Lucy." Lucy acquired a mate, "George," who has a special F# option. Both Swiss Stockers are decorated with alpine flowers and a Swiss cross. A carbon composite instrument “Alphorn E. Newman,” rounds out the collection. This portable Alpflyinghorn in dark red has made several flying excursions with the blessings of TSA and flight crews.
Tracy Sonneborn
Tracy von Sonneborn began his alphorn career clutching a small wooden bugle that had become dislodged from a nutcracker on the mantel of his grandparents’ fireplace. In flagrant disregard of directions to commit the objet de bruit to the flames, he persisted, putting clams through the horn at such a swift pace that, like Pinocchio (or Superman, depending on your taste), it grew to its terminal length of twelve feet in remarkably short order. “It’s twice as effective as a puppy in getting the attention of ladies in the area. Unfortunately, they rarely have more to say than ‘moo,’ or sometimes ‘bahhh’ on a good day,” he observes. Tracy's two horns are from Rocky Mountain Alphorns in Canada. A hummingbird adorns the bottom of the bell of one, and the other boasts a likeness of three of his many felines hand carved and painted on the top of the bell.
Frank Jess
In 1952 in Chardon High School where he was in the music room playing the Second Hungarian Rhapsody on the Marimba that the band director asked him if he played any instruments. “No” was the reply. “Do you want to learn to play the French horn?” “ What’s a French horn?” “ If you want to give it a try, I’ll give you a horn to play and free lessons.” Two weeks later little Frankie was playing first horn in the Chardon High School Band. After graduating HS in 1956 he went on to Ohio State to major in music. That only lasted one year. He got a summer job at General Motors in Cleveland, never went back to OSU, and his music career was over. In 1966 he transferred form the Cleveland plant to Kalamazoo Michigan to work at the newly opened General Motors plant. He was introduced to and joined the Kalamazoo Concert Band in 1967 where he is currently performing. He will play in any band or group that is desperate enough to ask him to play. He joined the Ein Prosit German Band where he was introduced to the Alphorns of Karl Beck and Tracy Sonneborn. Shortly thereafter his new Alphorn “Rosie” was born. Frank's Rocky Mountain Alphorn, "Rosie" has a red rose hand carved into the top of the bell.
John Griffith
Johann Merkel-Griffith, aka John, is a retired middle-school teacher and public librarian. He began his musical career at age 10 on the trumpet. He continued playing through his freshman year at Western Michigan University when it was “suggested” he take a break from school, so he joined the army. He put his trumpet away for 35 years until 1995 when he realized there was not enough Light, Love, Laughter, and Music in his life and he began playing the Euphonium. Soon he was playing with many bands.
Johann was introduced to the alphorn while playing in "Ein Prosit, a traditional German Band which he and his wife founded in 2002. Johann’s horn, “Coco”, arrived in May of 2007 from Rocky Mountain Alphorns in Calgary, Canada. Coco has a carving of the Canadian Rocky Mountains on her bell with dark red Coco Bola wood trim on the rim. In 2009 Johann organized the first Midwest Alphorn Retreat which brings alphorn enthusiasts together each July for four days of total immersion in the alphorn.
With his wife Christine, his Alphorn, his Euphonium and many good friends, his life is now overflowing with Light, Laughter, Love and Music. Johann and Coco are often heard on the Kal-Haven Trail serenading admiring cows.
Johann was introduced to the alphorn while playing in "Ein Prosit, a traditional German Band which he and his wife founded in 2002. Johann’s horn, “Coco”, arrived in May of 2007 from Rocky Mountain Alphorns in Calgary, Canada. Coco has a carving of the Canadian Rocky Mountains on her bell with dark red Coco Bola wood trim on the rim. In 2009 Johann organized the first Midwest Alphorn Retreat which brings alphorn enthusiasts together each July for four days of total immersion in the alphorn.
With his wife Christine, his Alphorn, his Euphonium and many good friends, his life is now overflowing with Light, Laughter, Love and Music. Johann and Coco are often heard on the Kal-Haven Trail serenading admiring cows.
Nancy Leipold
Of all the Alphorngruppe players, it could be said that Nancy came by her talents the most "Naturally." At a very young age, she ran away from home to join the fledgling Hippie movement. One day, while living in her commune and foraging for food with the rest of the troupe, she came upon a hollowed out tree. Of course, the first inclination was to eat the termites but, after finishing this delicacy, she buzzed into the hole at the end and made a wonderful Alphorn sound. She took the log home and mastered the instrument. It was soon after this that she took her original name, 'Sun-Moon Leipold'. It was supposed to be a name in honor of Leopold Mozart (Wolfgang's father and composer of a famous Alphorn concerto), but the person advising her at the time was not terribly knowledgeable in these matters. As the Hippie movement faded and she rejoined society, Sun-Moon became Nancy and the Alphorn became a modern carbon composite version of the hollowed tree that started it all.
Nancy loves the ease of traveling with the lightweight and collapsible Alpflyinghorn in black.
Nancy loves the ease of traveling with the lightweight and collapsible Alpflyinghorn in black.
Phil Hahn
Phil, AKA “Bruno,” discovered his love for music at a young age. After
picking a million quarts of berries for a strawberry farmer, he earned the money
to buy his first instrument, a Sears Roebuck cornet. In junior high, he learned to appreciate the sound of another instrument –
the French horn, as it was known back in the Dark Ages. (In 1971, the
International Horn Society renamed it simply The Horn. No, not just Phil’s horn
– all horns.) Phil bought his Conn 8-D horn in college, and for some unknown
reason, it was dubbed “Mancipal P. Horn” by a fellow hornist. He started as a math major, switched to chemistry, then discovered that he
was spending all of his time in the music building. After surviving several decades as a band director and then a computer
teacher, Phil happily retired. Phil’s alphorn, Flower Power, was carved from alder wood in Anrochte, Germany,
and custom painted by his sister in Massachusetts. The painting includes the
Alps in the background, with Edelweiss, blue Gentian, and pink Mountain Laurel.
Dick Brown
Dick began his musical "career" as a piano student in rural
Michigan, along with each of his five siblings. He has fond memories of sitting
three to a bench and playing six-handed piano at local social clubs. His family
also sang as a group and he thought they were quite good until his older brother
recently gave him a recording of one of their performances (copied from a wax
record no less). What was he thinking!?! Although he occasionally doodles on the piano, Dick took up
trombone when he entered high school, playing through 4 years of undergraduate
studies at Central Michigan University. His interest in natural history probably
influenced the design on the bell of his Henze alphorn - a bird perched on a
white pine branch. During his graduate studies, and for 22 years after, his
mother stored the trombone because she "knew" he'd come around again. In the
mid- 1990's Dick began playing with the Mason Orchestral Society (now Symphony),
appearing with them for over 15 years.
His introduction to Ein Prosit came through his friendship with
Tracy who invited him to "sub" for one performance. Dick and his wife (whose photographs
grace the websites of several performing groups) look for local musical
instruments when they travel and Dick plans to learn to play each of them when
he retires.
Ron Koch
Ron began playing the French horn in seventh grade when the school band director said, “We need one of those why don’t you play that?” His interest in the alphorn began when he met Karl and Johann over a glass of beer (bier) in Oregon (Ohio). When the same group showed up on an orchestra trip to China one year later, his fate was sealed. Ron recently purchased an alphorn from Andreas Bader in Grafenberg, Germany.
Jan Solberg
Early in life, little Jan discovered her love for farm animals Being good at languages, she searched for a way to get in touch with her inner cow and to communicate with these admirable animals. As a college student, she discovered the horn, which eventually led her to the alphorn and to all of the beatufiul music and fine fellowship it offers its afficianados. Nowadays she sends her melodious notes out in the world, ever hoping for an answering "moo."
Deb Sarno
Sue Peeples
Ron Lang
