Lucio Lorenzetti
Hall of Fame – 2023
Lucio Lorenzetti (1932-2003) began his career as a technician with the Star Concertina and Music Company in 1973. While Lucio was not accomplished at playing the chemnitzer concertina, he was an excellent keyboard and accordion musician. His experience as a musician allowed him to quickly become very familiar with many different types of bellows driven, free reed instruments. He was a master technician that fully understood how to make a concertina, accordion, bandoneon, or button box sound its very best.
Lucio worked for Star Concertina for almost three decades (until Star closed for business in 2000) and then continued to offer reed tuning and instrument repair on his own until his untimely passing in 2003. Lucio was a real perfectionist and he would always take the time to work with customers to try and understand exactly what sound each musician wanted, and to make certain they were completely satisfied with the performance of their Star Concertina.
Lucio was a key contributor to Star’s innovation in advanced musical technology, as he was directly engaged with the installation of MIDI interfaces in concertinas and accordions (StarVOX).
John Bernhardt, the last owner of Star Concertina, noted that it would take more than 140 hours to complete the manufacture of a chemnitzer concertina. His friend, Lucio, was involved in the entire process from start to finish, and he excelled at working directly with all customers whether they were novice or professional. While there were many technicians and other staff that worked for Star Concertina over the years, Lucio was well known for being friendly and accessible to anyone and everyone who stopped by the store, even other technicians, repairmen, and tuners. Without knowing it, he was an important contributor to the success of Star Concertina and its place in chemnitzer concertina history in the United States.