Tonya Adams played piano beginning at the age of six, switching to the flute in the fifth grade and realizing music was going to be a key part of her life. She finished her degree in musi...
Ian Anderson grew up in England during the 1960s and had a long list of guitar heroes who inspired him to play music. However, he found the power of people like Eric Clapton to be disconc...
Vivian Artley’s brother formed the Artley Flute Company in Elkhart, IN, during the 1930s. With an innovation that allowed the instrument to be made cheaper, Artley became a successful pr...
Rod Baltimore has been a music retailer in New York for over 40 years. Much of that time was spent on the famed 48th street music central. Working with brass and woodwinds, Rod has mainta...
Carl Bosse played an important role in the uncovering of our industry’s history when he sat down for our interview to discuss the Artley Flute Company. Since Mr. Artley had passed away in...
Steve Bosse served as president of the Artley Flute Company in the years after his father, Richard, led the company. Richard and Steve worked together to expand the company and relocate ...
Aria Boyd grew up immersed in a world of music, with her mother and aunties all playing instruments that filled her life with melody. Inspired by their talent, Aria picked up the flute in...
Susan Burke started on the clarinet in the 5th grade and in her 20s she was given a bonus at her work so she made a purchase she always dreamed of, she bought a flute. She gravitated towa...
Joe Butkevicius became a flute specialist as an instrument repairman. Over the years Joe worked in music retail, for Pearl Flutes and now is employed by KHS. Joe has also been very activ...
Gene (Cip) Cipriano began his musical career with the big bands led by such stars as Harry James, Tommy Dorsey, and Tex Beneke. He later moved to Los Angeles where he soon began his incre...
Buddy Collette changed music in more than one way. As a noted reed man, he played jazz along some of the greatest players in history including his boyhood friend, Charlie Mingus. Buddy wa...
Joe Cook began working in the music products industry with Selmer in 1966 with a focus on the saxophone products. He joined the Gemeinhart Flute Company in 1986 and remained with the fam...
Michael Cooney taught music in the public schools in Massachusetts for over 25 years. During the time of his teaching he also established a high-end flute company in the early 1970s calle...
Marilyn Creamer likes to tell people that the only day The Magic Flute was closed, besides holidays, was for her wedding! She met her husband Michael while both were working at the store,...
Emerson DeFord was a master craftsman who as a builder designed a number of flutes ranging from student models to professional instruments. As a businessman, he formed a number of well-br...
Karl Denson has played the saxophone alongside Lenny Kravitz, The Rolling Stones, Jack DeJohnette, Switchfoot, and the Blind Boys of Alabama (among others). He was the co-founder of the a...
Colleen Foster grew up in a musical family with her father often playing the organ and piano. She played throughout school in the bands on clarinet and flute. She put playing music aside ...
James Glanville was part of the team that relocated the Conn instrument manufacturing operations from Elkhart, IN to Nogales, Mexico, back in 1972. The result was a heavy blow to Elkhart,...
Roger Glenn recalls with a smile the years he attended the NAMM Show as a product endorser, showcasing the FRAP. As a second generation jazz musician (his father was Tyree Glenn who play...
DeAnne Gordy began working in the music industry with Gemeinhardt in 1989. The world famous flute and piccolo maker, located in Elkhart Indiana, was established in 1948. Over the years ...
Joe Guth’s career in the music products industry began with a short stint with Selmer and as a former band director he brought a great perspective to selling instruments to school music p...
DeDe Guth joined the customer service team at Yamaha’s band instrument factory in Michigan in 1980. There she learned first hand the company’s philosophy and attention to customer satisfa...
James Hall saw his sister’s flute and wondered if he could make one out of glass. He bought a glass tube from his university’s science supply and used his brother’s blow torch to make fin...
Holly Hofmann is one of the only female jazz flute players who does not double on other instruments but in fact prefers to focus her time and talents as a flutist. With little in the way ...
Glenn Holtz was raised in the music products industry. His father, Ed, was a sales manager for Ludwig Drum Company. Glenn spent 9 years as Selmer District Manager then 2 years as Field Ma...
Jim Horn, part of the “Wrecking Crew”, started playing the saxophone as a child and eventually expanded his musical reach to include the flute, oboe, and French horn, even playing the obo...
Haruhiko Ikebe developed a novel way of approaching music retailing, creating Super Pro Shops that stock vintage and new instruments along with accessories and knowledgeable sales staff f...
Cornelia Kinzelmann is CEO of ESM which produces mouthpieces for clarinets and saxophones. Cornelia remembers her grandfather, Wenzel Schreiber, from the time when she was a child. Wenzel...
George Koregelos made a series of well-respected flutes under his name in the 1970s that was but one of his career highlights in the music products industry. After studying instrument rep...
Angela Koregelos grew up playing the flute and taking lessons from her father, George Koregelos. George owned his own retail store and Angela has fond memories of working alongside her fa...
Tom Lacy began working for Armstrong flutes right out of high school in 1971 in the very plant he is working some 40 years later for the Conn-Selmer Company in Elkhart, Indiana. Along th...
Hubert Laws Jr. is an American flutist and saxophonist with a rich family history in the music industry. Specializing in jazz and classical, Hubert started playing the flute in high schoo...
