John Mlynczak soared as a student on his trumpet. He engaged other students and teachers alike to gain the most out of their experiences together while in practice or performing for conte...
Amy Nelson is the store manager for Piano Trends Music Company in Crystal Lake, Illinois. She began working in the store in the 1990s before having a wonderful opportunity to play trumpet...
Frank Nelson played trumpet and cornet during the swing era, touring with Alvino Rey’s Orchestra among others. He arranged music for the bands, both small groups and the larger outfits an...
Flip Oakes is the designer of the Wild Thing series of trumpets and cornets. Although Flip is a master of many musical instruments including the clarinet and saxophone (for which he was w...
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...
Dale Olson attended the University of North Texas back in the 1950s when the music program and the trumpet degree, which he earned, was just developing. Dale is proud of the programs at ...
Mike Olsen has worked in the very shop his grandfather established right after World War II to make parts for band instrument makers in and around his hometown of Elkhorn, Wisconsin. At ...
Karl Pasch purchased the music store that his father established in Anchorage, Alaska, with the goal of continuing the tradition of providing music products for his community while also f...
Kurt Pasch is the founder of the Music Man retail store in Anchorage, Alaska. Growing up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Kurt was surrounded by music and in fact played in more Polka Bands than...
Wally Pikal may have been the only music retailers who played on the Johnny Carson Show! Wally opened his store, Wally Pikal Music, in Hutchinson, Minnesota in 1964. Up to that time he ...
Ed Polcer grew up in a world filled with music and the older people around him were supportive and encouraging. As a result, all throughout his career, Ed sought to do the same for younge...
Melvin Quinones has a fascinating backstory as to how he established Victory Musical Instruments in Puerto Rico. It all began with his love and passion for making music, which started whe...
Larry Ramirez had a fascinating career in music! As a trumpet player he landed his dream job designing instruments for many of his childhood heroes! While working for Leblanc, Larry was a...
Kevin Ray Clark grew up with music in his home and played in a family band at church. He was inspired by the musicians playing at Disney World and pursued the trumpet in his school band p...
Kevin Rodriguez began playing trumpet in his home country of Puerto Rico while in grade school. When his family moved to Texas, Kevin continued to play the horn in his school Marching Ban...
Wallace Roney attended the Anaheim NAMM Show in 2018, playing his Kanstul trumpet and taking time to sit down for an Oral History interview. He spoke of his love of the trumpet and some o...
Steve Rorie landed a part time job the very same day he graduated high school at the Vincent Bach plant in Elkhart, Indiana. He later would accompany his grandfather and father at EK Bles...
Chaim Rubinov played the piano in his home as a child and when school age he began playing the trumpet , thanks to the encouragement of his band director. He grew up in Montreal, where t...
Arturo Sandoval is the Cuba born jazz trumpeter best known for the 2000 film “For Love of Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story” in which Andy Garcia portrayed Arturo. Over the years he has ...
Tony Santorella opened his own music publishing company just north of Boston after learning the trade from the iconic publisher Charles Hansen. Tony was an All State trumpet player who st...
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...
Larry Seaver spent decades designing, engineering and producing parts, instruments and tools for band and orchestras. The key to his success was simple, Larry was an engineer’s engineer! ...
Patrick Selmer is proud of his family’s long and important history as instrument makers in France. The company produces many of the finest band and orchestra instruments in the world and ...
Doc Severinsen had a mighty career as Johnny Carson’s bandleader on the “Tonight Show” and as a recording artist on several important albums. He is also widely known within the music prod...
Dr. George Shaw has had a big impact on the lives and careers of thousands of young musicians. As a music educator and sought after musician, George always looked for opportunities to en...
Marty Sheller was the award-winning arranger and jazz trumpeter whose musical skills can be heard on hundreds of recordings. He worked with Mongo Santamaria for many years (yes, that is M...
Bobby Shew’s cool jazz trumpet style helped revolutionize jazz in the 1960s through a series of successful recordings and world tours. During those years he developed several ideas that w...
Ira Sullivan was just three years old when he pulled his father’s trumpet out from behind the couch and began blowing into it. His father began teaching him how to play and by the time li...
Howard Summers is an instrument designer at Cannonball Musical Instruments, specializing in trumpets. Howard began playing the trumpet in the fourth grade in New Orleans and proudly can s...
Poul Marno Sørensen inherited Marno Sørensen Music store from his father located for many years in the heart of Copenhagen. Poul remembers how his father worked as a musician in a circus ...
Clark Terry enjoyed a long and celebrated career as a trumpeter playing with nearly ever iconic jazz musician of the twentieth century. His tone and style of playing was an influence on s...
Michael Thomas grew up in Los Angles where he took to music at an early age. He formed a swing band and became a professional musician. Along the way he began making his own valve oil a...
