AlphornsSF is a group of people who play Alphorn in the San Francisco Bay Area for fun and for events.

Contact us at alphornssf@gmail.com if you are playing Alphorn, would like to learn how to play Alphorn, or would like to hire us for an event.

Upcoming Activities

  • September 7 (Sun): 11am, Lake Merritt, Oakland
  • Sep 13 (Sat): TBD, Swiss Park, Newark

  • Swiss National Day Celebrations

    Alphorns at the Swiss National Day in Newark

    On August 1, the Swiss National Day, Switzerland celebrated its birthday for the 734th time since it was founded in 1291 by the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden and for the 134th time since 1891 when August 1 was established as the the day to celebrate Swiss independence.

    Swiss people in the San Francisco Bay Area celebrated, too, and alphorns traditionally play a musical part at those celebrations.

    In the picture above, Stephen, Monika, and Peter played at the celebration at the Swiss Park on August 2 while the kids paraded the flags of all the Swiss cantons.

    In the picture below, Monika and Peter played on August 1 to welcome guests to the official celebration at the Swiss Consulate in San Francisco on Pier 17.

    Alphorns at the Swiss Consulate in San Francisco
    Alphorns at the Swiss Consulate in San Francisco

  • FirnFern in Oakland

    Jonathon, Stephen, and Peter practiced today in our usual spot at the Edoff Bandstand at Lake Merritt in Oakland. Mostly we played in Gb, meaning in a typical key that Swiss alphorns are tuned in.

    However, we also practiced a few tunes that are written for a combination of alphorns tuned in F and F#.

    The video shows Jonathon and Stephen practicing an excerpt from FirnFern 1 composed by Balthasar Streiff.