Robert Strait is proud of the music retail traditions that his father developed when their family owned store was first established back in 1967. Since that time, his father, Dan, along w...
David Straubinger started a small business in 1969 to repair and rebuild woodwind instruments. He determined early on that one area of consistent concern was they way flute pads were repl...
Seth Strickland had a wonderful grade school music teacher who was a great inspiration for him. Seth played saxophone throughout high school and in the jazz band. He later performed in a ...
Sarah Strickland is the School Services Manager for Elefante Music in New Jersey. Her journey began in the rental program before she transitioned into teaching. In 2020, Sarah was promote...
Al Sturchio served the Texas Bandmasters Association for over 25 years as director and also as president. His passion and unbelievable energy has been a large part of the success of the a...
Scott Summerhays was the President of the company his parents established in Salt Lake City back in 1936. Scott and his brother Briant worked together to grow the family business and even...
Dave Surber’s father was a United States Navy musician who worked for the Leblanc Company after he retired from the navy. When Dave was looking for a job his father found one for him in ...
Wes Sutton has a background as a musician and a welder and wasn’t too sure about an opening at King Music Company in Brownwood, Texas, but he was looking for a change so he took a chance....
Millie Swanson was known as “The Sweetheart of Wurlitzer.” She joined the company in 1931 as an office clerk while still in high school. Over the years, as Wurlitzer grew into the largest...
Michael Sweeney has been heavily involved in all aspects of music education over his career in the music industry. Originally a public school band director, he’s been a full-time employe...
Wolfe Taninbaum was a leader in the development of synthetic reeds, although he is best known for his mouthpiece designs. The Taninbaum mouthpiece company was established in 1952 to provi...
Elaine Taylor began working on the bench at Selmer in Elkhart in 1975, where she covered cases. Over the years she has worked in the cork and padding department for saxophones, also in t...
Bryce Taylor was one of the best known and respected bandmasters in the state of Texas. His school bands performed at the Midwest Band Clinic, TMEA, and the Texas Bandmaster’s Association...
Terry Taylor has worked in the music industry his entire career. After his service in the Marine Corp, Terry began working for CG Conn in the factory in Elkhart, Indiana. He later worke...
Cynthia Templeton has worked for one and only one company in the music industry. She was hired by Selmer in Elkhart, Indiana in the early 1970s and remained with the company for her enti...
Carl Thacker was a teenager when he began repairing band instruments. In fact he was a Charter Member of NAPBIRT and attended the first annual convention before he was 20 years old. Aft...
Russell Thomas was a band director for over 34 years. During his teaching years he often felt frustrated that simple repairs would take weeks and often delay concerts or rehearsals. A l...
Johnny Thompson had the distinction of being the very first music student of a young steel guitar player named Ernie ball. Back in the early 1950s, before he established a string company,...
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...
Tommy Tompkins began working for CG Conn in Elkhart, Indiana right after high school. He worked in a variety of positions within the company before his training and certification on wast...
Helen Tozzi was hired to set up the accounting for a new music store that was opening in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Progressive Music opened in 1947 and Helen was there on opening day. She...
John Trakas was hired by Ziggy Coyle to serve in the store's accounting department. John grew in the company over the years as did the store, which had multiple locations throughout the ...
Jerry Trestman grew up in a musical home, in fact his older brother played saxophone for several of the big bands during the swing era. Jerry served in the Korean War and was stationed i...
Barry Trobaugh gives great credit to his childhood music teachers and band directors for the passion and love he has for being a music educator. After receiving his bachelors degree from ...
Agness Tsao earned her college degree in banking and always had a love of music, singing in choirs from a young age. After college, she began working for KHS Musical Instruments, which ha...
Lloyd Turner happily landed his first teaching job right out of college as band director for Madison Central High School in Jackson, Mississippi in 1966. The job cemented in Lloyd’s mind ...
Mindi Turner is the Accounting & Office Manager at Tatum Music in Longview, Texas. She is a passion-driven music maker who landed her dream job. She played clarinet all throughout sch...
Jan Ulrich’s brother Kelly Patterson began working at H&H Music Services in 1987 as an intern. Jan was hired just three years later in the service department. She works closely with h...
Charles Urban knows horns! As the former president of American Plating, he has worked with the top brass instrument makers to perfect the art of plating instruments. Chuck is also very pr...
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...
Holly Vallandingham, along with her husband Richie, proudly owns and operates Ada Music Center in Oklahoma, a vibrant, community-centered music store with a rich history dating back to 19...
