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~ Vibrant Music especially for Your Celebration ~

Stefan Stefan Menger is our cellist.

He grew up in a very musical household where his mother and his sisters would be playing several instruments and sing all day long. How he hated all that singing - in particular during the daily dish-washing session (this was still during the pre-dishwasher-era)! Still, he was reasonably successful playing the harmonica and the recorder (2nd part in 3rd grade!!!).

However, that attitude improved (at least slightly) during his teen-age years: His mother started teaching him piano and he also took private classical guitar lessons. But like many other kids his age Stefan found practicing scales by himself all day long pretty boring, and admittedly he was too lazy to practice anyway. In the end the piano lessons stopped and his guitar skills migrated into the "rhythm-land" which he successfully used in the youth choir at his church.

Having gotten interested in music to at least some degree, Stefan started attending musical summercamps where he was attracted by singing in the huge choir (with over 180 kids) and enjoyed very much listening to the orchestra. So he decided to learn and become proficient in playing a real orchestra instrument. Stefan did some research and found that the cello is pretty much the only string instrument for which you have a chance to master it even when you start with lessons just you turned 20 years old. He also loved its mellow sound as well as the fact that the cellist always gets a chair to sit on.

While he attended college, and during following years, he took private cello lessons and "religiously" practiced one or more hours a day. He soon started performing with various ensembles and orchestras. Having sharpened his vocal skills as well he performed with several choirs, among them the Chamber Choir of the Music Academy of Münster where he met his lovely wife (who likes this joke: "The bigger the instrument - the funnier the person who plays it..."). During that time teaching Square Dance became another cornerstone of his musical activities.

A couple of years ago, Stefan branched out into another music adventure: He picked up bluegrass banjo. Picking with 3 fingers a 4-beat rhythm on 5 strings seems to keeps him out of trouble...

His professional live led Stefan to many parts of the world. After living about 3 years in London, England, in the mid-90s the Menger family moved to the United States for good. Together with his wife Marianne, a violinist, string teacher and owner of the Chester County String Studio, and like himself an accomplished vocalist, Stefan co-founded the Chester County Strings, a vibrant string ensemble that performs at weddings, church services, cocktail parties, other functions - and just for fun.


To contact Stefan directly click here.



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