His father, Johann Gottfried Kotzschmar, was the town Stadtmusiker and taught his son to play the violin, keyboard, flute, and horn.
He studied with Otto for five years, then emigrated to America with a group of other musicians from Dresden who called themselves the Saxonia Band.
The group toured New York and Philadelphia with Fry's Italian Opera, then split up when the show folded in Boston.
While in Boston, Kotzschmar met Cyrus Libby Curtis, an amateur musician from Portland, Maine, who suggested he move there to find work.
In addition to his position at the First Parish Church, Kotzschmar's other major professional collaboration was as the conductor of the Haydn Association.
In December 1872, Kotzschmar married one of his former piano students, Sacramento native Mary Ann Torrey, on her 19th birthday.
[1] The couple had two children: Dorothea and Hermann Jr.[2] Mary published Half-hour Lessons in Music: Class Work for Beginners at Piano in 1907.