Michael Mohr recalls Vladimir Horowitz coming to the house when he was a child, and he was just like a member of the family. The great maestro was a friend of Michael's father, who was tr...
Franz Mohr was the chief concert technician for Steinway and Sons for many decades. During his long and colorful career, Franz worked on the pianos of many of the great pianists of his ti...
Paul Monachino grew up in the Rochester, New York area during the big band era. He played trumpet and set out to see as many of the dance bands as he could including his hero Harry James...
Mark Morris and his brother formed Morris Music in Brisbane, Australia in 2001. The tradition of his family's involvement in the music industry goes back to 1967 when his father, John Mor...
Lee Moyer began working for Marty's Music in the late 1960s. When the founder was ready to retire in 1971, Lee and his partner bought the business. They decided to keep the name and to ...
Greg Murdaugh is the president of Piano Craft in Springfield, Missouri. The store, which is co-owned by his wife Shelley, opened in 1999. Greg grew up in the business, as his father owne...
Jerome Murphy III, the vice president of M. Steinert & Son’s piano dealer in Boston, provided insightful stories on the rich history of Steinert’s musical history. Jerome told of Morr...
Paul Murphy has served his industry well, just as did his father, his grandfather and his great-grandfather. Paul was elected to the NAMM Board of Directors where he served for over a dec...
Jerome F. Murphy Sr. was the president of M. Steinert & Sons in Boston. He joined the company on January 10, 1897 and dedicated himself to the business and the industry. He was promot...
Brendan Murphy is the fourth generation of Murphys to hold an executive position with the M. Steinert & Sons Company, which follows three generations of Steinerts. For most of that ti...
Richard Myrland was a wizard, just as his name suggested! As a product designer for Wurlitzer, Dick created the famed 1050 juke box. With his devotion to the “Wurlitzer Way” credo, he, as...
Steve Nathan is among the top studio musicians in Nashville. Although his recording career began in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Nashville studios have been requesting his musicianship non-st...
George Nellas started his career in the music industry at Byerly Music in the 1970s selling home organs in the store's mall locations. After moving to Los Angeles, George worked for Sher...
Scott Nelson would often think that “if you can sell an organ, you can sell anything,” and it got him far in his career. He started selling organs and pianos at a young age in music retai...
Frantisek Nemecek was born and raised in Czechoslovakia where he studied advertising and helped the more than 70 instrument makers in the area to sell their products. Frantisek began by e...
Robert Neu grew up in the Cincinnati area and went to work for Baldwin Piano Company on August 2, 1946, right after World War II. In fact, Bob started out as a time keeper to keep track o...
Herbert Newton opened his piano store in 1939, a few years after becoming a piano tuner in the Norfolk area. Back in the beginning of the store, traveling out to nearby farms was key to h...
Dave Nicholas was just four years old when he began playing a piano that was left in their new house when they moved in the 1930s. The previous owner had purchased the piano on monthly pa...
James Nicoloro worked in a few small piano shops in New England, learning the art of tuning and the skills of restoration. He was asked to provide a piano for a women, who was so pleased ...
Richard O’Donnell was vice president of Yamaha Corporation of America at a very historic time in the company’s growth and development, the 1970s. Richard worked on several projects includ...
Sean O'Shea began front pumping the organ during the big boom of home organs in the 1970s. His first gig was for a music store when he was just 14. He grew up in the business and worked f...
Linda Oberg grew up in a very musical family and was always surrounded by music at a young age. She took piano lessons and studied music in school, which ultimately prepared her to be a p...
Hiroo Okabe is the Director and Managing Executive Officer of Yamaha’s Musical Instrument Business Group. During his NAMM Oral History interview he provided the history of how Mr. Torakus...
Spooner Oldham was a studio musician down in Muscle Shoals, Alabama before becoming a noted songwriter. Spooner's keyboard skills can be heard on such classic records as "You'd Better Mov...
Art Olson brought his love for playing music together with his experience as an instrument salesman to form his own store, Artistic Pianos. The store opened in 1999 in Encinitas, Californ...
Mario Ortigara joined his brother’s music store just two years after it opened. Since 1949, Mario worked alongside his brother Ben who started the store to teach and sell accordions. By 1...
Mary Ortigara has always had a deep passion for education and was an English major at Xavier College. After graduating in the late 1950s, she began working in her brother’s music store gi...
Mike Ortigara runs the piano repair and restoration branch of the store his father Ben opened in 1947. Ben opened an accordion store in Chicago which expanded overtime to include pianos, ...
Dick Papalia witnessed a need for organ and piano owners in his neighborhood to have their instruments serviced in the early years of the home organ boom of the 1960s. As a result, in 196...
Jyotindra (JP) Parekh is the owner of Rice Music House in Columbia, South Carolina. He is very active in educational programs within his community and has served the industry on many lev...
Starr Parodi, has actively made beautiful music for the masses in all sorts of venues. As a pianist, synthesist, composer, producer, arranger, and conductor Starr has worked on a bevy of ...
