Bonnie G. Rowe did not seem to mind much when people thought he was a woman because his given name was Bonnie. For 87 years he corrected people and never gave much thought to using his mi...
Elliott Rubinson fell in love with the bass at the age of 12 and played it every waking moment as he grew up in Queens, New York, in the rock era of the 1960s. He toured with a number of ...
Bob Rufkahr's long career in the music business began in retail in 1962! He later moved into wholesale and manufacturing before he formed his own company, Image Marketing in 1980. Along...
Howard Rumsey may have played the first electric bass to be recorded on a jazz recording. While performing with Stan Kenton’s first orchestra in the early fall of 1941, Howard was asked ...
Leon Russell was the noted musician and songwriter who contributed greatly to popular and rock music during his long career. As a studio musician, Leon was active in the development of t...
Florence Sachs was very active in community organizations, especially those with a focus on continuing education. When she heard about the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music she sig...
Isaac Sadigursky credited much of his understanding and passion for music to the school he attended in his native Russia. He began attending music school at the age of five and developed ...
Ron Sadler’s great grandfather settled in Aurora, Illinois, outside of Chicago, to establish Sadler Piano. Over the next 123 years, the company has faced some unique times and made an imp...
James Saied, the founder of the Saied Music Store chain in Oklahoma loved the marches of John Phillip Sousa! In fact, he liked them so much that he teamed with then NAMM President Ziggy C...
Yukio Sakurai studied photography and art at the university in Tokyo before his uncle asked if Yukio would come to work for him. His uncle was the founder of the Japan Music Trade Magazin...
Jim Salzer opened his first store in 1966 with a focus on selling records. At the time Jim was a concert promoter in Southern California and really understood what teenagers and young adu...
Ted Sambell was born in London, England and made his living as a piano technician in London, and Ontario, Canada. With poor eyesight Ted was often told he was limited in his career choice...
Lowell Samuel was the quintessential music man! He devoted his life to creating school band programs in the small towns of Illinois before and after World War II. After serving as a band ...
This audio only interview was conducted by David Schwartz and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Colin Sanders began building sound systems for churches when he was still a teenage...
Dr. Albert Sanderson revolutionized the process of piano tuning by inventing the electronic tuner. Although the device was first questioned by the industry among fears that it would put p...
John Santuccio was a noted orchestra manager, and also spent time as President of the music publishing company, G. Schirmer. John’s deep passion for classical music was a key factor in hi...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Harry Sargent was a jazz drummer based out of Memphis, Tenn...
Bob Saunders began working in the accounting department for Kaman Corporation. He was asked by the company’s founder, Charlie, to work with his son Bill for the Kaman Music Corporation. ...
Doug Sax was the pioneering mastering engineer who helped shape the craft beginning in the late 1960s. Doug was part of the original design team for the famed Mastering Lab in Hollywood C...
Sheldon Sazant began working for Steve's Music in Canada in 1978. What he recalls as his first impression of the store was the very tall, big, red-bearded owner, Steve. Steve was bigger...
Vern Schafer joined the family business of moving pianos as a teenager, but had the dream of running his own piano store. While still running the Schafer Piano Movers Company, Vern set ou...
Bob Scheiwiller taught music for three years before landing a job at a music store; the very first store he would later purchase. Bob bought and opened several music stores over the years...
Craig Schertz worked for Byerly Music in Peoria, Illinois and saw an opportunity to purchased two of the company’s ten locations when his boss and the current owner, Loren Zimmerman, was ...
Johannes Scherzer was a world-renowned master trumpet maker who spent much of his long career with JA Musik Group in Markneukirchen, Germany. His passion for the instrument contributed to...
Mel Schiff and his wife Sally established All County Music in Tamarac, Florida. The first store opened in 1976 with a strong focus on band and orchestra music and repair. However, Mel’s...
Sally Schiff and her husband Mel moved from New York to Florida where they decided to open their own music retail business. All County Music in Tamarac, Florida first opened in 1976 with...
Stanley Schireson’s father opened up a small music store in 1902 that would eventually branch out into manufacturing and distribution of musical instruments. The company began making ukul...
Tony Schmidt was the very first volunteer of the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music (located in the NAMM building) to provide 1,000 hours of service. As a kid, he saw Duke Ellington...
Peter Schmitt was not around when his family started a small retail store 110 years ago, but was proud of the role he has played in the expansion of the business into a wholesale business...
Leonard Schmitt opened a small guitar shop to provide lessons in the St. Louis area back in 1932. At the time we wrote a method for teaching music called the Schmitt Music Training Approa...
Al Schmitt’s career as a recording engineer covered more than 60 years of innovations in pro audio development in nearly every musical style. Al was the recording engineer for many musica...
Joachim Schneider proudly continues in the family tradition of hand crafted instrument making. His great grandfather was a violin builder as was his grandfather. His grandfather and fathe...