Jerry Pitzen
Hall of Fame – 2026
Jerry Pitzen was born in 1948 and grew up in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in a family of German heritage with a deep love of old-time music and dance. His father, Erv Pitzen, took up the Chemnitzer concertina in his forties and encouraged all of his children to learn an instrument. Around the age of fourteen, Jerry picked up his dad’s concertina for the first time. With guidance from his father, from family friend and accomplished player Joel Haugley, and from Henry Silberhorn’s instruction book, he began finding his way on the instrument.
Jerry’s Sunday afternoons were spent tuned in to KNUJ 860 AM out of New Ulm and KDHL 920 AM out of Faribault, recording tunes on a reel-to-reel tape deck and soaking in the sounds of the Minnesota old-time concertina musicians he admired most, Elmer Scheid, Jerry Schuft, Donnie Klossner, Ernie Coopman, and Johnny Gag.
By nineteen, he was playing Sunday afternoons at a local pub, and soon after, he formed a three-piece group, “Jerry’s Concertina Trio,” that played dances, parties, and weddings. He also briefly performed with the Ivan Kahl Band. When marriage and family came along, Jerry stepped back from paid engagements, but he never set the concertina down; he simply kept playing for the pure joy of it.
Over the decades, Jerry has generously donated his time and talent to concertina gatherings across the Upper Midwest, performing in Hartford, Merrill, and Allenton, Wisconsin, and at the celebrated Concertina Bowl in Blaine, Minnesota, where he has been a featured performer. He has given back as a mentor, too, notably helping teach Robyn Mrozinski the concertina and loaning her his prized Patek instrument to learn on, a gesture Robyn likened to “loaning a student driver your Mercedes.”
Those who know Jerry’s playing describe a smooth, refined style rooted in the New Ulm “Dutchman” tradition, the kind of music that makes people stop and listen. Among many fine players, Jerry immediately stands out, and audience members regularly ask about him after performances. Fellow musicians speak just as warmly of Jerry the person, his genuine love of the instrument, and the people who play it.