klaus Ludwig clement (KLC) Instruments
Wiessmeyer Violins recently joined with KDR music to be the sole importers and distributors of KLC instruments in North America.
We are proud to offer violins, violas, and cellos in-store.
Biography
Klaus L. Clement was born in 1956 in Weissenburg, Bavaria. After embarking on several different career paths, Klaus discovered his passion for violin making while serving an apprenticeship in the Bubenreuth workshop of Karl Hoefner. There, under the watchful eye of the shop Meister, he learned violin making from the basics on up, starting with a billet each of maple and spruce, and progressing all the way through varnishing, set-up, and sound adjusting.
Career highlights:
1984-1995 Roderich Paesold Company - String instrument division.
1987 Certified as master violin maker - Chamber of handicrafts/artisans, Nuremberg Germany.
1995-2000 Karl Hoefner and Roderich Paesold, (part of Boosey & Hawkes) Managed string instrument company.
2000 Started workshop dedicated to the production of bowed string instruments in partnership with Hagen Weise. Together, they established the internationally successful brand of “Clement & Weise”.
In January of 2010, Klaus founded his new workshop in the renowned music city of Leipzig. Together with his wife Stefanie Eva Clement, he operates his Klaus Ludwig Clement Meister workshop under the same roof as the venerable Friedrich Hofmeister Music Publishing Company, which was founded in Leipzig in 1807.
His Meister instruments are the summation of his study of historical instruments of all provenances, combined with the knowledge and experience gained over a lifetime of working with wood and varnishes. With an ambition for perfection, dedication and passion, two billets of wood in the hands of Klaus are transformed into Meister instruments of desirable tonal quality and beauty appreciated by musicians worldwide.
In addition to his widespread reputation as a violin maker, Klaus is internationally recognized for his many lectures about violin making and his special area of interest--historical varnish recipes.
Klaus is an active member of numerous professional organizations and in his local community, most notably the Entente Internationale (EILA), the association of German Violin and Bow Makers (VDG), and the Violin Society of America (VSA). He is also a member of the examination committee for the chamber of handicrafts/artisans in Nuremberg.