Jason Paul was in middle school when his parents decided to open a music store. Jason recalls painting the walls and the grand opening of the store, Piano Trends in Crystal Lake, Illinois...
Teddy Gordon owns the guitar-focused make’n music stores in the Chicago area. His own journey in music has been an interesting one, beginning with his mother who was a singing clown. Musi...
Dan Hagedorn grew up watching his father run the family’s music retail business and always knew he would work in the music industry. His father, known as Crazy Al, began his business in t...
Luyang Liu was born in China and was greatly encouraged by her mother to develop her skills as a musician. Luyang attended VanderCook College of Music and earned her degree in music educa...
Scott Gauthier is the Repair Shop Manager for the Arlington Heights location of Quinlan & Fabish, a chain of music stores in the greater Chicago area. Scott was encouraged by his moth...
Mary Garbrecht is in the envious position to experience the moment when a child makes their first sound on an instrument! As the educational road rep for Quinlan & Fabish, a music sto...
Aldren Briones is a passionate musician and songwriter who found great satisfaction in providing music lessons at his local music store. The store, Piano Trends, was founded by Tim and Bo...
Ashley Beleny is a music teacher and associate at Piano Trends Music Company in Crystal Lake, Illinois. Her love and passion for music began in her church where she was often found singin...
Bobbi Paul is the Co-Founder of Piano Trends Music Company in Crystal Lake, Illinois. Bobbi and her husband opened the music store in 1990 and have been proud to see it grow into an impor...
Barb Schotanus learned the clarinet while in the Catholic Band Program as a young girl. She enjoyed the program so much that she earned her music education degree at DePaul University and...
Bruce Waters grew up with his guitar ever-present. He played for small events around the Chicago area as a kid and started providing music lessons when he was 18 years old. He later toure...
John Benedeck sat down at the keyboard during his NAMM interview to demonstrate the riffs and clever tunes he plays as an organist for the Chicago Cubs baseball team! He is proud to have ...
Fritz Tasch was born in Kecskemét, Hungary and apprenticed in a violin making school in Mittenwald, Germany. He learned the trade of first building violins, violas, cellos and other histo...
Samantha Tranchida is very proud of her role at Quinlan and Fabish Music in the Chicago area as she assists young students in discovering the instrument they will play in school. The expe...
Katie Helgeson remembers the day in the fourth grade when a local music store brought instruments to her school to try out. She asked the instructor which was the hardest to learn and so ...
Sandy Goff, co-owner of Paige's Music, has had many first-hand experiences witnessing the importance of music education in the lives of young students as well as the passion for music so ...
Cindy Quinlan was once introduced at a NAMM meeting as “the boss lady” and the nickname stuck. She met her future husband, George Quinlan Jr., at a NASMD meeting in 1983. She was there on...
Amy Nelson is the store manager for Piano Trends Music Company in Crystal Lake, Illinois. She began working in the store in the 1990s before having a wonderful opportunity to play trumpet...
Jonathon Breen’s grandparents opened The Music Shoppe in 1961 in Bloomington, Illinois. Back then the name was spelled without the second P and the E, which were added later by his Uncle ...
David Slan took three years of piano lessons when he was growing up before switching to guitar. He was heavily influenced by rock and roll and played in bands throughout high school and c...
Donez McNeely sang in choir during her school days, following in the footsteps of her older sister who was a lead singer in a band. In 1980, Donez (whose name is derived by combining her ...
Beth Houlihan often reflects on the important role her mother played in establishing the family owned music store along with her father in 1974. Beth took note of the way her mother kept ...
Al Slivinski was in the third grade when a salesman visited his school with the pitch “you too can be an accordion player!” Al developed great techniques on the accordion that served him ...
Mike Ortigara runs the piano repair and restoration branch of the store his father Ben opened in 1947. Ben opened an accordion store in Chicago which expanded overtime to include pianos, ...
Mario Ortigara joined his brother’s music store just two years after it opened. Since 1949, Mario worked alongside his brother Ben who started the store to teach and sell accordions. By 1...
Mary Ortigara has always had a deep passion for education and was an English major at Xavier College. After graduating in the late 1950s, she began working in her brother’s music store gi...
Tim Paul may have been destined for a career in the piano business. Growing up, his mother was a piano teacher and his father a piano technician. One of his earliest jobs was as a ballpar...
Rich Covas owned Modern Music store's three locations for thirteen years beginning in 1966. The locations covered band and orchestra instruments as well as guitar, keyboards, and drums. T...
Rick Nielsen is among the very few rock stars who grew up in a music store! His story and background is perfect for the NAMM Oral History program as it ties together a professional career...
Frank Reda worked in the insurance business as a youth, where he credits the training on customer service and sales that he later applied to his work in the music industry. In the 1970s, ...
Joan Gand followed her drummer brother to a gig while still in high school. There, he introduced her to a guitarist from another school who eventually became her future husband, Gary Gan...
Frank Pampenella is the owner and president of PM Music Center in Aurora, IL and has worked in the music industry for over 30 years. He founded PM Music Center in 1982, when he transition...
