Dear Christian,

Coincidences determine life – and so it was also a coincidence that you joined us as a sound engineer at LOFT 25 years ago. We parted company with Ansgar Ballhorn, who had successfully helped to set up the studio from 1991, in a dispute, and he then cut his large mixing console from our house cables with a side cutter, packed it up and took it with him, along with all the recording equipment, microphones – everything that belongs in a professional recording studio. I had to take out a loan to buy everything back, but I was still without a sound engineer, at least ‘almost’ because Stefan Deistler was employed by RTL at the time and Wolfgang Stach already had his own (maarweg) studio. After our situation became known, my friend, the pianist Hans Lüdemann, called me: he knew someone I could ask who had a small studio of his own and would work at Music City on Ebertplatz. I went there straight away, we got to know each other and I introduced you to the recording studio project at LOFT and asked if you would like to work with us.

Since then, you have been an integral part of the LOFT with your calm demeanour and unpretentious expertise, making crucial suggestions for expansion and always loyally supporting the studio, the instruments and everything else that was and is necessary for the still almost incomprehensible success of this concert venue and its studio. All the awards that the LOFT has received in the almost 35 years of its existence are also the result of your work and, of course, that of your colleagues. Some of them learned from you, such as Lukas Lohner, who is now a regular member of our team, while others have gone on to extraordinary careers, such as David Menke or Johannes Plattmeier.

It is obvious that you were and are not only successful as a sound engineer at LOFT, but that you are also a sought-after sound engineer in other studios or broadcasting organisations, and in your own studio you are known as a master in mixing and mastering recordings of other colleagues and are in great demand.
All the more reason for us to thank you for staying loyal to us for so long and hopefully continuing to do so in the future.

for the LOFT:
Hans Martin, Urs Benedikt & the whole team