W. Herbert Klopfer
W. Herbert Klopfer is an organist, pianist, and composer. He is the composer of “Home Can Be a Heaven on Earth,” which was included in the 1985 Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His wife, Carolyn is the lyricist.
He has served on the General Music Committee of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 1983. He served on the 1985 Hymnbook Committee and is serving on the committee for the planned revised hymnbook announced in 2018. His assignments have included coordinating music at Church headquarters, providing music support for worldwide stake conference broadcasts, recording hymns and children's songs for digital organs and pianos used worldwide, and recording background music played in temples of the Church.
In addition, he has arranged many organ solo recital pieces.
Klopfer is a native of East Germany and escaped in the early 1950s by riding his bike through the gate to freedom. His father, Herbert Klopfer, died in a Russian POW camp on March 19, 1945, seven weeks before the German surrender.[1]
