Molenaar Edition BV publisher

Molenaar Edition is a publisher for, sheet music for Harmony, Fanfare and Brass Band. Also, Molenaar Edition has its own CD label, MBCD and releases 3 to 4 CDs under it every year.

The company was founded in 1933 by Pieter Jan Molenaar under the name Molenaar's Muziekhandel. In the 1970s, his sons Jan and Bob joined the fast-growing business. The name was changed to Molenaar's Muziekcentrale, later to Molenaar Edition BV.

In the 1970s, Molenaar was one of the first to make studio recordings of the works being published. Leading orchestras such as the KMK and the Marine Band collaborated on these.

In 1997, Bob left the company and Jan continued with his children Sander and Jon. Jan himself left the company in 2002, making the takeover by the new generation a fact.

With Sander and Jon, the production process was drastically changed and modernised. The process of old-fashioned printing of music was completely converted to full digitisation of editions and then combined with a "print-on-demand" system.

After 43 years, the company moved in 2014 from the Industrieweg in Wormerveer to a beautiful spot on the Zaan. During the preparations for this move, Sander Molenaar passed away far too early and Jon remained in the company as the last Molenaar from the Molenaar family.

As general manager, Jon is the captain of a healthy and prosperous company and together with Henk Ummels as artistic director, the company still releases a beautiful catalogue of new works every year.

Over the years, Molenaar has grown into a publisher with many national and international composers. Whereas in the early years it was mainly Henk van Lijnschooten, Gerard Boedijn, Jef Penders, Kees Vlak, and Johan de Meij, who achieved world fame, today it is the turn of the new generation, including Michael Geisler, José Alberto Pina, Saül Gómez Soler, Lionel Beltrán-Cecilia, Dean Jones, Carlos Marques, Harrie Janssen and Tohru Kanayama.