Hal Leonard Corporation

Bruce Bush cut his teeth in the industry as a music retailer. Just out of college he managed the print music department of Onondaga Music Service in Syracruse, New York. He later owned the store before deciding to take on the role of sales manager for Hal Leonard. A long-time advocate for music publishing, Bruce had a role in growing the sales and marketing efforts at Hal Leonard especially as it regards educational materials such as method and practice books. Bruce has been able to build meaningful relationships with dealer customers with his passion and understanding for the retailer’s role in the industry.

John F. Edmunds began arranging music as a high school student, when he found that commercially available arrangements were not suitable for his band of non-standard instrumentation. After college and a stint as a US Navy bandsman, John became a college professor, first as assistant director of bands at the University of Texas and later at LSU in Baton Rouge, while arranging and composing for those schools’ bands. Among his most noted works are “Britannia” and “March of the Longhorns,” the latter composed originally for President Lyndon Johnson’s inaugural ceremony in 1965.

Art Jenson is known throughout the music industry for establishing Jenson Publishing in 1977. The company became one of the nation’s largest educational music publishers with a focus on band and choral works. In the mid '60's, Art did some writing for Charles Hansen Publications and in 1969, he joined the editorial staff of Zeb Billings Music Publishing.  In 1970, Art and Keith and Don Mardak started Learning Unlimited, which became a division of Hal Leonard Publishing Corp.

Herman Knoll led the team that wrote and designed the landmark Hal Leonard publication Essential Elements. This series of method books has redefined the way students and teachers approach the early stages of music education. This is one of countless products Herman has helped develop since joining Hal Leonard in the early 1980s. Herman’s approach to his publications includes the idea of getting out to the schools to witness first hand how the students are being taught and how he can develop meaningful materials to assist both student and teacher.
 

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 for this program. Without Keith's insight the early days of this important music publisher may have been lost. Keith also added background on his own impressive career in our industry, as well as his insights on the condition of the industry.

Toyomasa Namikawa is the founder and chairman of the board for the Japan music publisher Teine Corp., which was named after his initials. He dedicated his life to providing students and teachers with band instrument publications throughout Japan. While attending the Midwest Band Clinics in the late 1960s, he was able to arrange exclusive distribution rights for Japan with two of the most influential band instrument publishers in the United States, C. Barnhouse and Neil Kjos Music.

Steve Rauch began his career in the music publishing business in the early 1960s. While working for several leaders in the industry, Steve developed his skills and knowledge that he would ultimately apply to his own publishing firm, CD Sheet Music, LLC, which was established in 2000 after he worked for Hal Leonard, JW Pepper and Warner Brothers Music. Steve played a vital role in the creation of Big Bells Inc., a music publishing company funded by songwriter Paul Simon. Like so many others in our industry, Steve has a deep passion for music, which is evident in the friends he has made and the music makers he has encouraged over his career.