Ralph Angelillo grew up inspired by Joe Morello. His dad was a bassist for big dance bands in the 1940s and '50s and his four brothers all played music. In 1961, at the age of 17, Ralph p...
Charlie Argall picked up a guitar and wanted to join a band the moment he heard the Beatles. He took lessons where he was introduced to his local music store, a place he found fascinating...
Ray Ayotte was born in Millardville Canada where as a youngster he began playing drums for rock bands he formed with schoolmates. Throughout his early playing days, Ray made little adjust...
Maribeth Barrons is one of the most energetic sales reps you will ever meet! With great knowledge of the Hal Leonard catalog and an honest interest in helping her customers, Maribeth has...
Amin Bhatia award winning composer/synthesist has worked in film and television in both electronic and orchestral environments. In his youth, Amin won Roland’s International Synthesizer T...
Terry Bingley was a leader in the Canadian Music Products Industry for several decades. He began his career when he formed a music retail store before working with Yamaha and, later, serv...
George Bishop had the idea of bringing the Canadian music industry together in 1971. With the help of some friends, the Musical Instrument Association of Canada (MIAC) was established not...
Rebecca Brill-Argall and her husband, Charlie, worked hard to build their customer base of dealers throughout Canada. Their distribution company provided musical instruments and accessori...
Bruce Chapman has always believed in the importance of music education and the positive role music can play in a young person’s life. All-throughout his music retail career, Bruce looked ...
Arnold Davidson was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa where he began playing in area bands. He was given the opportunity to distribute the strings he special ordered from England and ...
Doug Davies entered the music products industry in 1972 when he was hired by Turner Music in Canada. Turner was a subsidiary of Chicago Musical Instruments (CMI) and at the time, Doug was...
Guy Desjardins was composing and arranging music as technology in musical instruments was changing. His adaptation of these developments resulted in his nickname of Mr. MIDI. He was hired...
Sheldon Dingwall wasn’t yet a teenager when he began machining his own guitar bridges. The process of guitar building has been in his blood ever since, as has his interest in all things m...
Caitlin Doherty is the Vice President of Erikson Audio at Exertis, part of JAM Industries in Quebec, Canada. Her love of audio and music began with the piano, for which she earned her fir...
George Douglas's grandfather opened a small music shop in Canada, which his father managed following his military service during World War II. The small store chugged along over the years...
Dave Dunwoodie is the founder of Graph Tech Guitar Labs in Canada and has pioneered several products during his career in the music industry. With the popularity of tremolo guitars, the n...
Roy Fawcett was very successful when it came to thinking outside of the box. Unlike most retailers, Roy has not advertised his products and services in the yellow pages or in the newspape...
Sol Fleising worked for Erikson’s Musical after earning his business degree and even worked in a small music retail store for a while, but he had a vision to own his own company. During t...
Stefano Galante is a recording engineer and producer who designed his own studio in his native Italy before moving to Montreal. Over the years, Stefano has witnessed many changes in the t...
Jamie Gale, the visionary founder of Jamie Gale Music, hails from Ontario, Canada, where his fervent love affair with music, particularly the guitar, blossomed from a young age. From the ...
Dave Gantz watched the Beatles on television and instantly he knew that he wanted to play bass. Dave had many interesting adventures in music throughout the 1960s, including attending Woo...
Robert Godin grew up in love with woods and handcraftsmanship. He worked along side a luthier long enough to understand he had found his passion. Robert designed and perfected a style of ...
Marty Golden is the founder of the Canadian music distribution company JAM Industries. Marty began his career in retail, first working for his father in a pawnshop and later a music store...
Hugh Goldsmith was hired by the Mason-Risch Piano Company of Canada when he was still a teenager in 1937. Times were difficult during the depression era and into the war years when Hugh e...
Tom Hebert was serving in the Canadian Air Force when he had the idea of opening a small music store. His idea was to provide lessons to some of his fellow servicemen and the young studen...
Brenda Hebert remembers driving to the music wholesaler who represented the small store her husband formed, Cosmo Music. She was several months pregnant with her son, Mark, and was given ...
April Hebert is an educational sales representative dedicated to supporting school music programs and band directors. Growing up in a musical family, April was immersed in music from a yo...
Greg Hornberger served as the president of the Musical Instrument Association of Canada (MIAC) in the early days of the organization and worked to expand the membership and scope of the a...
Peter Janis played in school orchestra and rock bands growing up as his mother played piano in the home and encouraged him to pursue music. His first job in the industry was working at S...
Fred Kalisky became enamored with the maracas on his very first trip to Mexico City and realized it was an instrument that could be successful in the Canadian market (his home since reloc...
Howard Kalisky is the president of Efkay Music Group in Lachine, Quebec, Canada. Howard's father Fred founded the company in 1957, and Howard is following in his footsteps. Howard has als...
Michael Kirman was on hand for the 50 Year Milestone Awards during the 2015 NAMM Show. The award went to Steve's Music, a chain of stores in Canada, which were established by Michael's f...
