Louis S. Kurtzmann

Biography

Louis S. Kurtzmann was born at Buffalo, New York, in 1860. He graduated from St. Joseph's College in 1878 and apprenticed as a piano maker under his father, later forming a partnership with his brother, Fred C. Kurtzmann. The partnership continued until 1901, when the firm was incorporated; Kurtzmann acted as president until 1910, when he sold his interest. The text describes him as a piano maker of the old school, skilled in every branch of the trade from scale drawing to tone regulating. His last creation, the "Louismann" piano, is described as having a distinctive individuality and a melodious, liquid tone of great carrying power and clarity. His son, Christian Kurtzmann, Jr., later carried on reorganization of the associated Louismann-Capen Company's factories. In 1912 Louis S. Kurtzmann, together with his son Christian Kurtzmann, Jr., acquired a controlling interest in the Brockport Piano Manufacturing Company, which had been making the 'Capen' and other pianos since 1893. He reorganized the firm as the Louismann-Capen Company, becoming its president, with his son as vice-president and secretary and George C. Gordon as treasurer; the new company manufactured the 'Louismann' and 'Capen' pianos. From Spillane (1890): L. S. Kurtzman is named as one of the partners of Kurtzman & Company, the Buffalo piano-manufacturing firm that carried on the business originally founded by C. Kurtzman before 1850. The firm at the time of writing was made up of L. S. Kurtzman, A. Cordes, and Adolph Guger. The text gives no further biographical particulars—no dates, training, or individual accomplishments—for L. S. Kurtzman beyond this partnership listing, though the shared surname suggests a family relationship to the firm's founder.

Highlights

• With his son Christian Kurtzmann, Jr., acquired a controlling interest in the Brockport Piano Manufacturing Company in 1912
• Reorganized the firm as the Louismann-Capen Company, becoming its president
• Piano maker of "the old school," versed in all branches of the art from scale drawing to tone regulating
• Served as president of the family firm after its 1901 incorporation, until 1910
• Created the "Louismann" piano, noted for a melodious, liquid tone of great carrying power
• One of the partners carrying on the Buffalo firm of Kurtzman & Company, successor to C. Kurtzman's original business

Sources

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. II (1913), pp. 140, 141.

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), p. 145.

Public domain.