Mike Kamphuis is perfectly suited for his position as Vice President, Division of Education at Conn-Selmer in Elkhart, Indiana. His role allows him to work closely with educators and indu...

Dana Messina was always intrigued by all the machinery in factories thanks to his engineering background, but his business skills are what lead to his success at both Selmer and Steinway....

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 ...

Andy Strayer began his career in the music industry working for a music store, which he joined right after earning his music business degree at Wingate University in North Carolina. After...

Angelo Battellini proudly managed the Martin Band Instrument factory in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he worked for 51 years.  He was born the son of a brick layer in Italy, a trade he learne...

Denver Spence joined the music industry in 1968 after having been involved with his school marching bands and school band programs since he was in elementary school.  He worked as a schoo...

Bill Price was active in the band instrument business after being involved with other industries and as a result has a very unique and positive perspective on the music industry.  Bill wa...

Larry Ramirez had a fascinating career in music!  As a trumpet player he landed his dream job designing instruments for many of his childhood heroes!  While working for Leblanc, Larry was...

Jim Stella began playing the trumpet in the fourth grade and continued to play throughout college and went to instrument repair school right after school before landing a job in manufactu...

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 ...

Tadamichi Fukuda was the Chairman for the Global Corporation, located in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1975 based on the repairing of musical instruments, especia...

John Bagnall began working in the music industry with the G. Leblanc Company before he began working for Selmer in the 1970s.  He remained with the company in the early 2000s when it merg...

Leon Pascucci grew up in the music industry as his father was the president of Leblanc in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Leon remembers well the times he spent with Mr. Leblanc in France and the man...

Ralph Zumpano worked in the Kenosha, Wisconsin, Leblanc plant most of his professional career. Ralph married Vito Pascucci’s sister and was alongside Vito from the very beginning of the o...

Ellis Day was a familiar face to NAMM show attendees for several decades as the front line trombone player on the opening day’s Petiot All-Industry Marching Band performances. Ellis has h...

Harold Stone served the music products industry in many ways over a long and celebrated career. After working in a music retail store (Mays Music), Harold joined the CG Conn Company where...

John Musselman has enjoyed a long and successful career in the music industry with Selmer, Leblanc and American. His zeal for the industry and understanding of international markets have ...

Ron Griggs dreamed of being a band teacher as a child. His career as a teacher was rewarding as he was often stopped in the street by former students who would remark on how much of an im...

Buddy DeFranco’s clarinet style helped to legitimize the instrument in the post-swing era as a modern jazz instrument and his techniques have been a major influence on performers ever sin...

Gil Marschner had several key positions in the music products industry beginning in the 1950s and into the 1980s. Best known as G. Leblanc’s accountant, Gil and his wife Vera, developed l...

Vito Pascucci was assigned to band instrument repair during World War II for Glenn Miller’s Army Air Force Band. Although Miller was much older, the world-famous bandleader and Vito becam...

Danny Henkin was one of the true characters of the music products industry. He began his career with G. Leblanc Corporation and later worked as sales and marketing manager for Gemeinhardt...

Larry "Link" Linkin began his career in the industry as a salesman for the G. Leblanc Corporation and wound up the C.E.O. of NAMM, retiring the year that the organization marked its 100th...