Ever since the first edition in 2003, the Harmonica Masters Workshops, organised by the Hohner Conservatory in cooperation with Festival Director Steve Baker and sponsored by Hohner Musical Instruments, have been bringing some of the world’s finest players and instructors to Trossingen for a joyful celebration of the international harmonica community at the leading educational event for our instrument in Europe. There certainly seems to be something about the combination of concept, location and implementation which brings people back year after year and continues to attract new participants.

The 16th edition 2024 took place in the previous time frame of the autumn school holiday in the state of Baden-Württemberg, which seems to suit participants better than June, as in in 2022 and 2023. Attendance was up in comparison to the past two years and around 120 students and staff took part in the workshops and concerts.

Our traditional blues harmonica class with the legendary Joe Filisko was once again fully booked, and following the success of his first class with us in 2023, Bonnie B.’s workshop on blues and gospel harmonica and vocals was packed out. In 2024 we also introduced two new instuctors. Tian Long Li gave a great workshop on jazz chromatic and Eddie Martin turned an enthusiastic class on to the art of rack harmonica with guitar accompaniment. After an absence of a couple of years, Marko Jovanovic came back to present his Pure Harmonica course and Chris Kramer returned for the second time to teach a beginners workshop on Friday and Saturday.

Following the traditional Hohner “meet & greet” party on Wednesday, the evening program in the Kesselhaus started with Joe Filisko’s informal acoustic jam, before festival director Steve Baker presented the first on-stage session with the LiveWires (Jeff Walker: bass, Robert Carl Blank: guitar and Yogi Jockusch: percussion). As on the following evenings after the concerts, a whole bunch of students signed up and delivered exciting performances with the band. And every night after the end of the official program, numerous players stuck around in the Kesselhaus to jam until the early hours, one of the high points for many attendees.

The Harmonica Masters Concerts program began on Thursday evening with Blues, Ballads and Harmonica Jazz, featuring  Chris Kramer & Paddy Boy Zimmermann, followed by Tian Long Li and Thomas Förster (piano), ably augmented by Jeff Walker and Yogi Jockusch. At Friday’s concert Voice of the Soul, Bonny B. delivered a great set of deep blues with the LiveWires before Steve Baker took to the stage with the band to perform a rocking selection of tunes from his recent solo albums.

Saturday’s concert Three Shades of Blue kicked off with Marko Jovanovic in duo with the great Stef Rosen on guitar and vocals, followed by a set from Joe Filisko, who was joined by friends including Anthony Cresci and special guest Joel Andersson, before closing his show with the band. After the break, Eddie Martin performed a great solo set on resonator guitar and harp before the band joined him for a high energy performance which brought the house down. The subsequent Grande Finale with all musicians and instructors featured memorable performances from everyone and brought the 16th Harmonica Masters Workshops to a fitting conclusion. Thanks are due to all staff, instructors, musicians and students for making this wonderful event possible, and to the Hohner company for their generous support!

Following the 10th World Harmonica Festival, which will be taking place in Trossingen from October 29 - November 2, 2025, the Harmonica Masters Workshops will return for the 17th edition at the end of October 2026. We look forward to seeing you there!

Steve Baker  -  Festival Director

Eric Dann  -  Director, Hohner Conservatory