Sonja Lynne grew up in her mother’s music studio and found her voice as a singer. Sonja studied opera and can still be heard singing in her church. She had a few jobs, including as a scho...

Rich Neville has spent his life making music and for decades has helped others obtain their musical dreams. Rich was a touring musician who turned to a career in music retail and never le...

Gregg Proniske began working at Southwest Strings in 1998. The distributor of stringed instruments is located in Tucson, Arizona, and specializes in contracts with school music programs a...

Rebecca Ensley studied clarinet in college and yet somehow got caught up in the crazy world of stringed instruments as a luthier and repair technician. It all started in 1991 when a frien...

Mark Mason has always been interested in technology. He was only ten years old when he began programming computers. He became a technician for Microsoft in the 1990s and played a role in ...

Tiffany Johnson gets a real kick from serving her school accounts for Southwest Strings and helping each obtain the instruments and services they need in order to provide for their music ...

Syndenn Sweet was the first woman hired as a luthier at Bookmans Entertainment Exchange in Tucson, Arizona. This distinction is one she makes with pride, especially considering her father...

Leslie Stirm is the owner of the Instrumental Music Center in Tucson, Arizona. Joining the store in 2001, Leslie has helped develop the store’s team, which has a strong focus on customer ...

Bob Harrison tells many stories of his father and aunt working in music retail when he was a child. His aunt, Mary L. Spence, owned a store with her name on it in Plainview, Texas. She wa...

Tom Miller began his career in the piano business at Jordan Kitts Music in Bethesda, Maryland in 1976. His father had purchased a Hammond organ from the same company in 1960, and at age 6...

Jim Minch purchased his first musical instrument at Milano Music having no idea as a child that he would spend his entire career with the store.  The Mesa, Arizona based company, which wa...

Matt Milldebrandt feels privileged to play a pivotal role in bringing a child their first musical instrument.  Matt had desires to become a band director in his youth and found his long c...

Michael Faltin wanted to discuss his views on customer service during his NAMM Oral History interview.  The interview took place at the NAMM Show in 2016, when his store was awarded the “...

Leslie Faltin earned a degree the University of Arizona in chemistry with a minor in mathematics and physics. She was selling radiation therapy equipment in Bellflower, California with a ...

Ziggy Haspod joined his brother-in-law in running a small music store before working for The Music Stand in Tucson, Arizona.  It was at that store where Ziggy met with many traveling sale...

Kenny O’Brien is the president of Music & Arts, a retail store chain that his father, Ken O’Brian, established. Kenny oversees the stores, which focuses on school music and print and ...

Fred Allard has been passionate about music making since he began playing guitar in the 8th grade. As a teen he worked for Milano’s Music Center in Mesa, Arizona in the mid 1960s. Fred wo...