About Us

Founding members of The Alpine Trio - Al and Erika
Wehrle are a husband and wife team who've been uplifting audiences with their mastery of German and Slovenian musical stylings for over 20 years. Al, on his piano accordion, received his brilliant tutelage from Othmar Stubler - and Carmelo Pino to name a few. The "Button Box" or Steirische Harmonika,
as it is properly named, is tickled by Erika's fingers to
evoke the peppiest accompaniments! These two
met in El Paso, and have maintained the honorable
privilege of playing for the German/American
Night Run in El Paso, TX and the German
Air Force Oktoberfest for many years.
Other performances of note have been
in Nuernberg, Germany, and the
International Accordion Festival.
Residents of San Clemente, The Alpine
Trio plays at various venues such as the
Jagerhaus Restaurant in Anaheim, Old
World Restaurant in Huntington Beach, Swiss Chalet
in San Clemente, and private parties all over the United
States.

Dave Holben has been adding the extra "oomph" to this oom-pah trio in the bass department on his hand-made Germanic-sounding tuba. David hails from Pittsburgh, PA has a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music, and a Master of Music degree from the University of Arizona. He has toured Japan with the Eastman Wind Ensemble, and has been in the employ of several symphonies all over the nation including West Virginia, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois. Since relocating to Long Beach in 2003, he has gained experience with numerous brass quintets, Novus tuba quartet, has performed with the San Diego Symphony, San Diego Pops, and currently is a freelance performer in the L.A. Metro area. As a soloist, Mr. Holben has performed many recitals, and was a featured artist at the 2007 Southwestern Regional Tuba/Euphonium Conference. Currently, David is the professor of tuba and euphonium at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), has taught at Biola University, and teaches a studio of private students in the Long Beach area. The Alpine Trio has provided for David a fun outlet of exciting polkas and waltzes, which have melodies he steals out from under Al and Erika.