We knew the market.
That’s exactly why we left it.

mezzo-forte is a manufacturer of carbon fiber string instruments — designed and built in Werther, Westphalia, Germany. Founded on years of market knowledge, a clear view of what was missing, and a decision to do something about it.

When you know a market well, you know what it’s missing.

We did not come to string instruments from the outside. For years, we were deep inside the trade — as importers, refiners, and dealers in high-quality wooden instruments. We visited the trade fairs. We met the manufacturers. We built the catalogues. We advised the musicians.

And year after year, we observed the same thing: the same faces, the same products, the same arguments. A market that had not moved in its fundamental principles for centuries — and showed no intention of doing so.

Stagnation is not a quality standard. It is a sign that no one is asking the right questions.

In 2009, we started asking them. Not as academics, not as outsiders — but as people who knew the market inside out and understood precisely what it could not deliver.

• 2002 Founded in Werther, Westphalia. Import, refinement, and distribution of high-quality wooden string instruments.
• 2009 Development of carbon fiber string instruments begins. The question: what becomes possible when you redesign a string instrument without the constraints of wood?
• 2011 Market launch of the first mezzo-forte carbon instruments. Production and distribution entirely based in Werther.
• 2015 German Musical Instrument Award — the first carbon instrument in the competition’s history to receive it. Evaluated by an independent jury. Assessed blind.
• today Twelve people in Werther. Four product lines. Instruments in over 50 countries. And still: wooden instruments at streicherwelt.de — because we know what makes a great instrument, regardless of material.

Twelve people. One conviction.

Twelve people work in our workshop in Werther — instrument makers, engineers, technicians, craftspeople. What connects them is not a job title but an attitude: everyone here has chosen to care deeply about what they do.

You don’t build carbon fiber string instruments in Westphalia because it’s the easy path. You build them because you can’t stop working on them. Because every instrument that leaves the workshop is the sum of real knowledge, real experience, and real care — not a production run, not a batch number.

No instrument leaves our workshop without having passed through hands that understand what a professional musician requires.

We have invested substantially in our production infrastructure over recent years: CNC milling, spray booths, curing chambers, precision tooling. Not to produce faster — but because craftsmanship that takes itself seriously demands the right tools.

Every step in our hands.

Our instruments are built entirely in Werther — from the first layer of carbon fiber to the final play test. Every step stays with us: cutting, vacuum infusion, finishing, assembly, setup, sign-off.

This is not the standard in this industry. For us, it is the only way we can stand behind every instrument we make.

Why carbon fiber. And why like this.

We did not move away from wooden instruments because they are inferior. We know their qualities better than most. We moved because wood has structural limitations that no amount of craftsmanship can overcome — and because professional musicians feel those limits every day on the road.

Carbon fiber is climate-stable, lightweight, and exceptionally resonant — a material that spent decades almost exclusively in aerospace and motorsport. We developed it for the concert hall. Not as a substitute for wood, but as a distinct answer to demands that wood was never designed to meet.

“Warm, brilliant, and powerful in tone. Indestructible on tour.”

That is not a tagline. It is the verdict of professionals who use their instruments daily — on stages, in orchestras, under conditions that push traditional instruments to their limits.

Award-winning sound — independently assessed, evaluated blind.

In 2015, mezzo-forte won the German Musical Instrument Award — the first carbon fiber instrument in the competition’s history to do so. An independent jury of experts, professional musicians, and acoustics specialists assessed the instruments blind: no manufacturer, no material, no prior expectation.

The result was unambiguous.

This is not a design award. It is not an innovation prize for new materials. It is a sound judgment — made by people whose profession is to evaluate sound. Not our own claim. The decision of those with no stake in the outcome.

Four lines. One standard.

mezzo-forte offers instruments across a full range of requirements — from a focused entry level to acoustically selected, solo-grade instruments. Every line is built in Werther, to the same standards, from the same materials.

mf | pure — Reduced to what matters. Polished raw carbon, full performance, no compromise on sound.

mf | core — The heart of the workshop. Fully configurable, vacuum-infused, hand-finished. The professional standard for orchestra and stage.

mf | solo — Acoustically selected. Every instrument passes audiometric testing and a four-ear evaluation. For musicians who accept no compromise.

mf | atelier — Limited editions. Where the highest level of craftsmanship meets complete creative freedom.

What we believe.

We do not believe carbon fiber is better than wood. We still sell wooden instruments today — at streicherwelt.de, to musicians who are looking for exactly that. We know what makes a great instrument.

And we know what the market has failed to deliver for decades. mezzo-forte is our answer to that.

Designed and built in Werther, Westphalia, Germany.
Played by professionals in over 50 countries.