Mark Ragin jumped from working at the retail level of a music store into wholesale when he realized there was a real need for a band instrument and accessory distributor geared toward the...
Joe Reynolds was born in the small, close-knit farming town of Vandalia in southern Illinois in 1938. His father owned a bustling radio and television store, also offering an eclectic mix...
Mary Faith Rhoads Lewis grew up on a farm outside of Allentown, Pennsylvania, where her mother played the piano and encouraged her children to play an instrument. Mary Faith began playin...
Ed Rider grew up playing guitar and writing songs, and later played trombone in the school band. After serving in the United States Army and also playing in the Army Band, Ed found a musi...
Harry Rosenbloom was the founder of Medley Music and one of the true pioneers of import relations with the Japanese beginning in the late 1950s. He developed and maintained key partnershi...
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...
Luis Ruvina grew up in the music industry! His family established the Daniel Ruvina Music Company back in 1917. Over the years Luis continued in the tradition of the company and the indus...
Jeff Saltzman has been involved with the violin since being introduced to the Suzuki Method when he was a child. His grandfather and father both worked as wholesalers in musical instrumen...
Fred Salvador grew up in the music business. His grandfather opened a small music store for which Fred remembers working in as a small boy. Years later Fred joined the staff of the musi...
Dean Samuel is the son of industry leader, Lowell Samuel, who not only formed the Samuel Music retail store in Effingham, IL but the pioneering music wholesale company, MIDCO, in 1964. Lo...
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 ...
Jeff Sazant began working with his brother, Sheldon, at Steve’s Music in 1967. The Canadian-based music store has played a significant role in the industry and gained a reputation for its...
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...
Rudy Schlacher has become of the great businessmen of the music products industry, which is incredible considering his humble beginnings. With an idea of detail, customer service and the ...
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...
Michael Schmitt is the president of Peter E. Schmitt Music in New Jersey, the wholesale business his great uncle formed back in 1926. Michael’s father expanded the company over the years ...
Bob Seidman was born a salesman! Bob knew he loved selling before he was a teenager. One of his early jobs was selling women’s undergarments, but soon his attention turned to musical inst...
Eddy Shenker teamed up with Marty Golden in the mid 1970s to form JAM Industries. The distribution company has become one of the largest in Canada and introduced the market to a number of...
Jasbeer Siingh enjoys the people in the music industry. He lists working with the passionate people of the industry as one of the key factors in his own satisfaction in his job.
Renato Silva has established the Renaer Group in Brazil, which represents a number of South American pro audio companies. Renato is proud of the growth of the company and attributes the s...
John Hornby Skewes was the founder and president of John Hornby Skewes Company Ltd, a noted music wholesaler located in England, which was established in the early 1960s. John was also o...
Michael Skinner grew up in jazz and cut his teeth as a musician at Berklee College of Music. He was a band director right after college and designed several music programs including some...
Allan Small played music as a young student and earned his degree in music education, then became a band director for almost a decade. As a band director in Pennsylvania he was involved ...
Palmi Snorrasen grew up in Iceland and was formally trained on the trombone, vibraphones, and accordion as a teenager. By his eighteenth birthday, Palmi was playing professionally and he ...
Lloyd Stark began his career in the music industry as a teacher in a small string shop in Berkeley, California, providing lessons on bluegrass instruments such as the guitar and banjo. Wi...
William Stonier always stressed the importance of personal relationships when conducting business in the music industry because the passion for music was a very personal and very critical...
Mirek Jaromir Strizka opened a musical wholesale business in the early 1960s and named it European Craft. The company began as the young Czech immigrant established a business in Los Ange...
Al Sturchio served the Texas Bandmasters Association for over 25 years as director and also as president. His passion and unbelievable energy has been a large part of the success of the a...
Maurice Summerfield wore many hats within the music industry as wholesaler, retailer, exporter, historian, author, publisher and mentor to a new generation of industry leaders. His famil...
Martin Szpiro's mother was the office manger and one of the first employees of JAM Industries, a Canadian wholesaler started by Marty Golden and Eddy Shenker in the early 70's. As the com...
