STEPHAN KRONTHALER | Clarinetist | Clarinet maker

His musical roots come from his local music service in Traben-Trarbach and his lessons not only on the clarinet, but on the organ, violin and piano. He studied in Weimar with Karl-Heinz Steffens, in Cologne with Ralph Manno, in Berlin with François Benda and in Mannheim with Wolfhard Pencz where he was also in the academy of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich. After many years of playing in the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, he became a member of the Guerzenich Orchestra Cologne and in 2012 moved to the Opera Orchestra in Frankfurt, of which he was a permanent member until 2023.

Stephan Kronthaler also performs regularly as a soloist and chamber musician and is a welcome guest in other important orchestras such as the Frankfurt Radio Symphony and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.

In summer 2024, he was given the honour of being appointed to the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra.

The search for „his sound“ soon led him to Karlsruhe and a fruitful relationship with the Kronthalers and their clarinet manufactory. Otto Kronthaler inspired him greatly with his profound knowledge of music, instrument making and reed making.

With his artistic experience and his passion for getting to the bottom of things, he contributes to the business - and not just since he became part of the family in 2015.

In the meantime, he has set up his own local workshop in his new home of Luxembourg, where he works alongside Johanna and Otto.

It will be interesting to see what innovations and ideas he will realise together with Johanna and Otto.

He also currently teaches at the Ecole de Musique of the Union Grand-Duc Adolphe in Luxembourg.