Marsha Berman grew up in a home filled with music. Her mother sang and her father played, so she was encouraged to play piano. She took lessons until college, at which point she studied m...
Fred Bramante formed the music retail store Daddy’s Junky Music on the East Coast and went on to play a vital role on the NAMM Board during a dynamic period in the association’s history. ...
Terry Bingley was a leader in the Canadian Music Products Industry for several decades. He began his career when he formed a music retail store before working with Yamaha and, later, serv...
Frank Bilz applied his passion for music into the expansion of the Markneukirchen Germany music school programs entitled Musicon Valley. As Marketing Director of the school, which is loca...
Paolo Fazioli heard a special piano sound in his head and yet was unable to find an instrument that was capable of producing the sound, so he built his own pianos. Beginning in 1978, he d...
Lucien Wulsin’s grandfather was taught the piano business by D. W. Baldwin, the founder of the world-famous piano company. What he learned was passed down to his son, who, like his father...
BR Wexler was the president of Wexler Music Company, the leading manufacturer of symphonic batons. The company also produces a wide range of accessory products. Established by his father,...
Parham Werlein followed in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather as president of Werlein’s For Music in New Orleans, Louisiana. Like his predecessors, Parham also...
Donald Waxman is a noted composer who served as editor at Galaxy Music Publishing Corp., as well as several positions on the ASCAP and MPA Boards over the years. He is best known for his...
Bernie Vance played the saxophone in a number of big bands during the swing era. He was drafted and served during World War II, only to come home and find that musical tastes had changed....
Fred Theriault recalls the first time he set foot in Long & McQuade’s Music Store. He was still a teen and bought a snare drum from Jack McQuade; ironically Fred later was hired and h...
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...
Dr. Wolf-Dieter Seiffert is the president of G. Henle Publishers, a noted publishing firm located in Germany. Dr. Seiffert is also a musicologist and historian, who took great pride in ou...
Earl Scruggs was the father of bluegrass and country banjo playing. His style and techniques have been both influential and inspiring for generations of banjo players around the world. Hi...
Don Schlitz likes to tell the story about how he was in the right place at the right time when his song, “The Gambler,” was recorded by Kenny Rogers in 1978. The truth is, if that was Don...
Johnny Rodgers can tell you all about the trends of piano sales in Texas. As salesman for Jent Music in Lubbock, he has watched the market and his customer base change over the years. He ...
Alvino Rey tinkered with putting a phonograph pickup in his banjo to increase the volume in 1927. His inventive mind also led to early guitar pickups and the design of a pedal-steel guita...
Nick Peck’s entire face lights up whenever he talks about a great school music program! The son of a band director, the passion seems to be in his blood. After taking over the store his f...
Sammy Nestico has revolutionized the band and orchestra repertoire by composing and arranging top jazz charts for all levels of bands. As a result, this arranger of Count Basie’s band in ...
Les Paul will forever be known for his role in the popularity of the electric guitar, the design of the Gibson Les Paul guitar, the multi track recording, the early guitar effects, and hi...
Jay R. Morgenstern was a veteran of the record and music publishing industries and served as the Executive Vice President/General Manager of Warner Chappell Music Inc. His amazing career ...
Vic Mizzy wrote a number of hit songs for popular music, movies and television beginning in the 1940s. He wrote “The Jones Boy” for the Mills Brothers and is perhaps best known for writin...
Billy May was a fun loving trumpeter who arranged some of the best-loved music of the Big Band Era! His humor and musical talents provided hit recordings for Glenn Miller, Charlie Barnet ...
Jim Marshall was in a full body cast as a 12-year-old boy due to polio. He managed to overcome the incredible odds to not only walk again, but also to become a trained tap dancer. He foun...
Keith Mardak provided great detail of the history of Hal Leonard Publishing, especially the stories of the company's founder, who passed away years ago, before they could be interviewed f...
Leif Juhl has had quite a life in music! As a boy, he picked up a trumpet – the instrument he still played in his early 90s when his oral history interview was completed at his Arizona ho...
George Holden was the president and co-founder of Smith-Holden Music Store in Bloomington, IN. As a music teacher George partnered with a close friend who sadly committed suicide soon aft...
Brad Hershberger’s mother and father opened a music retail store in rural Nebraska in the late 1950s. Brad grew up in the business and worked side by side with his father to develop and ...
Dr. Sidney Harman, the founder of Harman-Kardon and Harman Industries provided a fascinating interview. He spoke of his early days and the innovative product line that helped develop the ...
Alfredo Flores was born in Mexico in 1908 and moved to San Antonio, Texas with his mother and grandmother when he was a small boy. He took several jobs as a young man including a position...
