WILLSON Company History
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| IWilli Kurath, owner of Willson Band Instrumnets,
is the second generation to run the state-of-the-art small company. Skilled
craftsmanship and intuition, a sure musical sense and a feel for which
musicians' wishes can be turned into reality have made Willson products highly
desirable instruments with a reputation in musical circles of many years
standing. |
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Founded by Willy Kurath sen. in 1950, the company started by repairing wooden and metal percussion instruments. After five years of a heavy workload of repairs, there arose the intuitive wish to finally produce something better, instruments that would be more satisfactory to play. |
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1955 saw the building of the first new workshop and the realization of plans for the first KURATH rotary valve instruments. They proved to be successful very quickly, and Kurath sen. decided in 1965 to build bigger premises on the same site in Flums. At the same time he decided to give the company a new business name, one that would be easy to pronounce for non-German speakers and that also had a rather "international" sound to it. At this time we acquired our present name "WILLSON Band Instruments Switzerland". |  |
1970 brought new premises (present location), the co-ordination of production processes and ultra-modern production tools. There have been many pioneering innovations and patents since then, such as the famous "compact bells". These are seamless bell joints which are produced stress-free in one piece. In December 1988 Kurath sen. and his son integrated the engineering company "Bauerfeind", of Nauheim, Germany into Willson Band Instruments Flums. This, however was sold again at a later date. Today we produce all piston valves from the trumpet to the tuba on our company premises in Flums. This move in piston valve production has enabled us to achieve high standards! In January 1993 a sensation in the production of rotary valves became reality. For the first time ever, Willson Brand Instruments introduced the public to a rotor with 100% air throughput volume. The new part also made consistent use of the latest materials and technologies. The precision valve was given the name ROTAX and was patented. In the second generation, under Willi Kurath jun., the company's philosophy remains unchanged - small, compact and exclusive. With total availability for our customers. Today, Willson Band Instruments employs a team of 25 brass specialists. Professional bases in: USA, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, the Benelux countries, France, Germany, UK, Spain, Portugal and Scandinavia. |
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Products for the professional sector for: wind bands, brass bands, symphony orchestras and soloists. "
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