Ziggy Kanstul knew more about brass instruments than most people. As an important part of the manufacturing end of the FE Olds Company, Ziggy became an expert on model designs, the specif...
Mitsuo Kasahara served as the first president of Yamaha Corporation of America after setting up the branch office in Southern California in 1961. Three years earlier he established the f...
Kazuo Kashio was president of the Casio Musical Instrument Company during the heyday of electronic keyboard sales. The company produced some innovative products during that time and conti...
Seiki Kato was the president of KORG, the Japan based electronics company that has created innovative musical products since his father first established the company in the 1970s. Seiki p...
Tsutomu Katoh had many ideas for using electronics to improve the way people make music in their homes. As the founder of KORG, Katoh-san (also spelled Kato) was able to see his ideas tur...
Hirotaka Kawai was the president of the Kawai Music Corporation in Japan following in the footsteps of his grandfather, the company's founder and his father, who expanded the company afte...
Sanjiro Kawamorita was drafted into the Japanese Army during World War II. He served under Shigeru Kawai who hired Kawamorita-San and other soldiers from his unit after the war. He remain...
John Keal was one of the very few who attended the Conn band instrument repair school in Elkhart, enrolling in the school just after World War II. The program only lasted a few years, but...
Sam Keeney loved playing music! He had a road organ he hauled to performances nights and on weekends. Starting in the late 1950s, his day job was music retailing. In 1970 he bought a stor...
Gerhard Keilwerth grew up loving the saxophone and dreaming of building his own line, which of course he did do to international success. The Keilwerth name has been synonymous with innov...
Lauren Keiser was a passionate music publisher. He worked with many of the top publishing companies over his long and distinguished career including Alfred, Cherry Lane, Carl Fischer and...
Joe Keith felt that the local music teachers needed specialized service when it came to finding the tools they needed. Along with his wife, Claudia, he opened The Music Mart in Albuquerq...
Gordon Keller owned and operated a string of piano stores in and around northern Virginia and became a much-celebrated figure in the area due to his work at the Kennedy Center and Wolf Tr...
Mark Kelly served on the Midwest Band Clinic board for over 30 years, beginning in the 1980s and played a vital role in the growth and popularity of the clinic and its programs. He attend...
Ernie Kenaga was hired by Charlie Bickel at the Selmer Company following the end of his military service during World War II. At the time, 1946, Selmer had 80 employees including factory ...
Kern Kennedy tickled the ivories on a number of early rock and roll and rockabilly recordings back in the 1950s. It was the heyday for Sun Studios in Memphis right after the success of El...
William Kent, along with his brother Ed, formed the Kent Drum Company in 1947 with a focus to create student-level kits to encourage music making at all economic levels. The company offe...
Russell Kephart enjoyed his years as a band director but found great satisfaction when he opened his own music store and could provide the service he felt band directors were missing. The...
Darrell Kersten served in the National Guard for over 20 years. After his time in the service, he joined the team at Groth Music in Bloomington, Minnesota. After working on the road and c...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Barney Kessel was a well-respected and sought-after studio ...
Lowell Kiesel, as the founder of the southern California guitar company Carvin, joined the ranks with Leo Fender, Paul A. Bigsby, and the Rickenbacker Company, in establishing the new era...
Yoshinori Kimbara was a former Yamaha Japan Corporation executive who worked under Genichi Kawakami beginning in the 1950s. He was the first general manager of the Yamaha Music Foundatio...
B.B. King spoke of his great love of music making and provided sound advice for those who want to play an instrument. He smiled as he recalled buying his first guitar amplifier and spoke ...
Gershon Kingsley composed several hit recordings using the Moog synthesizer in the very early days of electronic music. His mega hit “Popcorn” in 1969 led to a series of pioneering electr...
Don Kirkendall was hired by Electro Voice founder Al Kahn to serve as the company’s advertisement manager in 1954. Don’s creative approach to the company’s line of speakers and microphone...
Mildred Kirschner was simply known as Millie around the NAMM headquarters office where she was hired in 1946. The Chicago based association was being run by Mr. Mills when a heart conditi...
Stan Kitchen, along with his late wife Shirley, were the co-owners and founders of Studio Music. This music publishing company was established in 1957 in London and has grown over the yea...
Neil A. Kjos, Jr. took over the music publishing company that his father, Neil A. Kjos, Sr. had formed in 1936. He began by developing and adding the best-selling Bastien Piano publicati...
James Kleeman was called the “Professor” around the NAMM headquarters. He was thought of respectfully for his role in establishing NAMM’s professional development department. While servin...
George Klein first met Elvis Presley when the two attended Humes High School in Memphis. Over the years, George became one of Elvis’ closest friends. He was a part of many of the King’s i...
Betty Kline was getting a little tired of running to town for band accessories when her husband, a music director, needed something for his students. What started out being a large box o...
Dick Knaub served as president of the Rico Reed Corp. during the 1970s. He oversaw the reed manufacturer’s expansion into magazine advertisements and the company’s return to industry even...
