Museum of Making Music

 Joy Akerman was one of the first volunteers in NAMM’s Museum of Making Music docent programs back in 1999.  Over the years, she became active in many elements of the museum, including the store and the monthly volunteer training classes.  Her love of people and music made her role at the museum a perfect fit.  More recently, Joy was hired as the receptionist who greets all NAMM visitors and holds court behind the much talked-about lobby desk, which is in the shape of a grand piano. 

Lou Berger is an energetic piano salesman in the style of the old piano traveler of a by-gone era. In fact, what Lou knows about selling pianos he learned from some of the old timers when he was a young man starting out in the business. Lou is a walking encyclopedia of the piano business and is well versed in the player piano boom of the 1890s all the way to the electronic piano disc boom of the 1990s. In fact he has provided training classes for the Museum of Making Music’s docent program on the subject of player pianos.

Jerry Carp has volunteered as a docent for NAMM’s Museum of Making Music and helped spread the history of the music products industry to many museum visitors since its opening in 2000. During his years surrounded by musical innovation, Jerry became very interested in the Theremin, the first electronic instrument, and studied its background, becoming the museum’s expert on the subject. Jerry even put together a kit Theremin for the museum’s interactive gallery for visitors to try first hand.  

Ruth Charles and her husband Dick opened a music store in Glendale, California, called Charles Music. They enjoyed a long life together as music makers and teachers and retailers of musical products. The couple pioneered many products in the southern California area including those of Yamaha and Roland. Their friendship with Mr. Kakehashi, the founder of Roland, has been one of the most cherished elements of their lives in music. In 2011 Mrs. Charles became the first music retail gallery sponsor of the Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, California. 

Murray Davison was a trumpet player who had a few gigs during the Big Band Era, but had to get a day job after the war. While he became a successful businessman, music was never far away. In the 1960s, he established the "Jazz at Noon" concert series in New York City and, a decade later, began writing jazz articles for publications. Murray was among the first to support the Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, Calif., performing at the museum's opening day events in 2000 and providing countless lectures and special tours over the next five years before his passing.

William Demmers has volunteered for the NAMM Museum of Making Music for over ten years. During that time he has provided tours as a trained docent to guests of all ages. His own background in music is fascinating. As a teenager Bill played trumpet in a traveling big band in the Mid West, played bugle as a service man during World War II and the Korean War and at one point also played the double bell euphonium. His volunteer efforts for NAMM also include dedicating hundreds of hours to the Resource Center where he worked on, among other projects, the Oral History collection.

 Dorothy Demmers is proud of the volunteer work she and her husband Bill have provided the NAMM Museum of Making Music. For over a decade she has given of her time and talents to provide tours of the museum to all ages of visitors, help run the museum store, and create and manage the historic files of the volunteer program as well as the museum events since its opening in March 2000.

Steven Eaklor is a walking encyclopedia of the history of the electronic organ –especially the Hammond organ. Since he was a child he has loved the Hammond and ironically enough grew up to become one of the company’s product engineers. Within the industry, Steven has played a vital role as the leading Hammond expert for the Museum of Making Music and countless publications. He worked to promote the instrument and even helped with some designs and electronic improvements over the years.

Janet Faulhaber has always had a special interest in the sheet music department of the Ward-Brodt Music Company in Wisconsin. Janet and her husband purchased the store and have expanded the product line and involvement in community music programs for several decades. When their son, Mic, returned home after his military service they were proud he wanted to work in the family business. Janet took over much of the books and day to day operations when her husband passed away and in recent years has worked within the industry to help expand music education awareness by supporting such organizations as the American Music Conference (AMC), the Retail Print Music Dealers Association (RPMDA), the National Association of School Music Dealers (NASMD), and NAMM.