LAFIN Flute Headjoint | Sterling Silver

J.R. Lafin born in 1940, began his career as a Principal Flutist after having studied with Dr. Demmler and Aurèle Nicolet. His last playing position was 1st Piccolo-Flutist in the Berlin Radio-Symphony-Orchestra.

While in Berlin he had the good fortune to play very often as a guest with the Berlin Philharmonic during both concerts and recordings, under H.v. Karajan as well as all the other famous conductors. Mr. Lafin has always been deeply impressed by the quality of this orchestra, which has greatly influenced his sensitivity for sound.

In 1979 he decided to learn flute-repair as there is no-one in Berlin who does flute-repairs and subsequently he was able to go to Japan where he received extensive training at the Muramatsu factory. Having contact with so many flutists he often heard criticism about headjoints, except when the player had one which was made by Albert Cooper. So he thought he would make head joints himself and then started by first designing his own tools.

After a long period of trials and experiments, co-operations began with Albert Cooper making head joints to his design and specifications. As both Mr. Lafin and Mr. Cooper are constantly experimenting with new ideas to improve playing characteristics. The actual design is always changing slightly in an ongoing effort to make flutes play even better.