Marvin Zoschke had dreams of being in the music business while he was a boy. After working in a piano store after World War II, Marvin had the opportunity to open a Baldwin Piano dealersh...
Norm Zimmerman began his career in the industry with Steve’s Music in Canada, where he remains as the store’s sheet music buyer. Norm grew up working in his father’s general store, provid...
Snooky Young was given his first trumpet from the local junk man who saw he had an interest in music, but whose family could not afford the expense. The gift served him well as young Snoo...
Masani Yanagisawa’s father formed the Pearl Drum Company in Japan just after World War II. Masani applied his marketing knowledge to assist in the growth and development of the company. W...
Johnny Winter has become an important link between classic blues artists and modern audiences. Johnny’s blues style stays fresh and current while playing the important standards by artist...
Robert Wilson formed his first rock and roll band when he was 14. He played the blues for a living while creating a large list of friends, many of whom encouraged him to sell them instrum...
Robert Zoschke is the president of The Piano Center in Beaumont, Texas, which his father Marvin formed in 1955. Robert worked in the store on weekends and over the summers while in school...
Henry Wickham knew the secret of a good sounding piano, the cast iron plates. For decades Henry was the president of the Wickham Piano Company in Ohio, where many of the plates for Steinw...
Roland White played the mandolin as far back as he could remember. Influenced by the Bluegrass and Country Music he heard as a boy, Roland created his own unique style, which has been a m...
Larry Westland set out to give a few music students a chance to play. He worked long and hard to gain support to create the Music for Youth School Programs in the UK, which was establishe...
Bitsie Werlein was the last president of the famed Werlein’s For Music in New Orleans. When its doors closed in 2003 it was the nation’s oldest operating music retailer. The company was e...
Saul Walker’s career in the field of electronics went back to the early sound designs before World War II. As an engineer he was trained in the United States Navy and worked on several im...
Kees van Willigen opened a music shop in Holland in 1968. As an accordion player he specialized in the instrument and soon gained a world-wide reputation for his product line and customer...
David Van Koevering worked alongside Bob Moog in the early days of marketing the Minimoog synthesizer. The instrument was the first mass produced synthesizer that produce unique tones, us...
Pete Valentino noticed that band instrument repairmen often had a difficult task in replacing worn pads on flutes and saxophones. He had burned his hands on many occasions and thought tha...
Arturo Valdez is known around the world as the “guitar repairman to the stars.” With his shop located on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, California, Arturo has worked on thousands of guitars, ...
DeForest Thornburgh came into the industry with a strong business background and a deep-seated passion for guitars. When an opportunity arose to purchase the well-established Blue Guitar...
Norm Thompson began his career in the music products industry as a salesman for retailers in Memphis during the 1950s. He worked his way up to a position of buyer for the store O. K. Hauc...
Morley Thompson’s financial background was a key element in the expansion of the Baldwin Piano Company during the 1980s. Morley created a credit company and finance programs under the Bal...
Hans Thomann, the visionary behind the iconic music store empire in Germany, transformed his love for music into a harmonious business venture. From humble beginnings with his father’s mu...
Toshitsugu “Tom” Tanaka, the president of Hoshino Gakki. Ltd, recalled with a smile his early training in the industry under Harry Rosenbloom of Medley Music. That experience not only edu...
Mehmet Tamdeger’s mentor was Mikkail Zilcan, who taught him everything the master craftsmen knew about cymbal making. Mehmet was born in the same small village outside Istanbul, Turkey wh...
Manji Suzuki had a deep passion for the music industry. He is the founder and president of Suzuki Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company in Hamamatsu, Japan. The company began as a harm...
Fujio Suzuki was the president of the Suzuki Musical Instrument Company in Japan in 2003 when the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music celebrated the launching of the new Hammond-Suz...
Don Stewart was hired in 1957 by the famous composer Roy Harris to copy music – by HAND. Back in those days, the cost for plate engraving was too high and the music typewriters were not y...
Ralph Sordyl believed in music! Having started a music repair business in his living room while teaching music, Ralph grew the company, Sordyl’s House of Music, to one of the best known i...
Ed Soph toured as the drummer and percussionist for several noted jazz bands during the 1970s. His noted work with the Woody Herman Orchestra led to gigs with the Glenn Miller Ghost Band ...
Paul Reed Smith began playing guitar as a teenager. He soon designed his own style of guitar, which he built. At first he did not think about selling the instruments he was designing, but...
Holger Siems had a prolific career in music publishing. Beginning in his native Germany, Holger worked for several top publishing firms in key positions. Among his many accomplishments in...
Mototsugu Shimamura grew a small Japanese music retail store into the country’s largest music retail chain. Shimamura Music has played a vital role in music education and the expansion of...
