Diefes Brass Repair opened in 2013 in Ed's garage. In the years since, Diefes Brass Repair has grown to establish itself as a trusted source for repair and service of brass musical instruments. With the opening of the shop in Roseville Chase, DBR is striving to bring to a diverse selection of instruments and products not previously available to the Sydney market.

Meet our staff:

Ed Diefes, owner

 

Ed is a successful professional musician and a 2^nd generation repair technician.  He began working in the instrument repair business in high school under the tutelage of his father, a master repair technician who has worked on instruments for musicians including Sonny Rollins and members of the New York Philharmonic.  Prior to arriving in Australia, Ed worked closely with his father in Marcellus, NY, a suburb of Syracuse, NY, concentrating on brass repairs and modifications.  In addition to his performing career, Ed has always been able to “keep his hands dirty” in the repair industry and is well acquainted with the needs of the professional, amateur and student brass instrumentalist. 

In 2008, Ed was the successful candidate of an international audition for the position of Principal Tuba and Cimbasso with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra. Ed arrived in Australia with his family in 2010 to join what is now called the Opera Australia Orchestra, a position he held until 2020. He is in demand as a musician and has performed with some of Australia's leading musical institutions including the Sydney Symphony, The West Australian Symphony, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the NSW Police Band. Prior to moving to Australia, he was Principal Tuba with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra. Ed has also performed and toured both nationally and internationally with many notable American orchestras including the New World Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, The Baltimore Symphony, The Pittsburgh Symphony, and the Detroit Symphony.  In 2003 he premiered and recorded the Tuba Concerto of Meyer Kupferman with the Czech National Symphony.  He can be heard on recordings with the Sydney Symphony, Syracuse Symphony, New World Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra and on major motion picture soundtracks. He attended The Juilliard School and is a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music.

Nick Barnard

Nick Barnard is a professional trombonist, music educator and apprentice brass instrument repair technician who's been part of the Diefes Brass Repair team since 2023. From his musical beginnings as a pianist, Nick has always been interested in the inner workings of musical instruments and spent hours taking apart and restoring his own Clavinet, Wurlitzer and Rhodes electric pianos. After studying jazz bass trombone at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, apprenticing under Ed at DBR seemed to be a natural fit.

As a freelance trombonist, Nick has worked with James Morrison, Michael Bublé, The Angels, Sandy Evans, the Dave Panichi Big Band, Jeremy Rose's Earshift Orchestra, the Andrew Robertson Big Band, the New Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra, John Morrison's Swing City and Judy Bailey's Jazz Connection. He has played for a number of musical theatre shows including Hayes Theatre Co.'s production of "Cabaret", and as a session musician for various TV ads and commercial recording projects. Nick has also toured and recorded with Gai Bryant's Cuban-inspired projects "Caribe" and "Palacio de la Rumba". Other performing and recording credits include Tequila Mockingbird, Sydney Contemporary Orchestra, Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra, Rochelle Scorgie Jazz Orchestra, Danny Carmichael Jazz Orchestra, Elvis to the Max (Max Pellicano) and Elvis: An American Trilogy.

Elliot H.

Peter Hogan

Peter semi-retired as an Accountant in 2020, as Covid lockdowns were beginning. Peter has always had an interest in music with each of his five children playing various instruments. Peter commenced working at Diefes Brass in 2023 and works generally one day per week on Administration, Finance and other tasks.

Harry Macpherson

Harry Macpherson is a freelance bass trombonist and low brass teacher and has been working for DBR for several years. Originally hailing from country NSW, Harry completed his Bachelor of Music (Performance) at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2023. 

Harry's main credits include performances with the Australian Youth Orchestra in their 2024 seasons and Momentum Ensemble, Sydney Youth Orchestra, Sydney Lyric Orchestra for Avatar the Last Airbender in Concert, Top Gun Maverick in Concert and Love Actually in Concert, Willoughby Symphony Orchestra, Canberra Choral Society, Sydney Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra including on their 2022 Europe tour, Sydney Conservatorium Wind Symphony and Brass Ensemble, Ku-Ring-Gai Philharmonic Orchestra, Sydney Concert Orchestra, Sydney Metropolitan Orchestra, North Shore Wind Symphony, North Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and many other groups across Sydney.
Harry has also recorded for film and TV and was involved in the Sydney Conservatorium's China Tour in October 2023, performing brass chamber music in the cities of Harbin and Shenyang.

James Reeson

Since late high school in 2021, James has been working part-time with Ed at Diefes Brass Repair focusing on repairs and servicing. James is studying music at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and his goal is to interweave the brass specialist experience gained from his time at DBR, and knowledge he has gained from studying music, ultimately applying it to his time in the music industry.

Louis Withford-Cave

Ivan Zhu