Keith Mardak

Sue Collins is proud to mention that her mother was the very first employee of the Milwaukee division of Hal Leonard.  Once Keith Mardak and Art Jensen formed the division, Sue's mom was hired to help run the office.  The office manager for Hal Leonard is much different from the early days, especially considering the growth in the company's employee numbers. Jjust ask Sue, who has served in the position for several years.  Her dedication to detail and strong interest in serving all those who come to the headquarters building is part of the very fabric of Hal Leonard!  

Art Jenson was known throughout the music industry for establishing Jenson Publishing in 1977. The company became one of the nation’s largest educational music publishers with a focus on band and choral works. In the mid '60's, Art did some writing for Charles Hansen Publications and in 1969, he joined the editorial staff of Zeb Billings Music Publishing.  In 1970, Art along with Keith and Don Mardak started Learning Unlimited, which became a division of Hal Leonard Publishing Corp.  They pioneered the print industry with several innovations including sending audio recordings of t

Keith Mardak provided great detail of the history of Hal Leonard Publishing, especially the stories of the company's founder, who passed away years ago, before they could be interviewed for this program. Without Keith's insight the early days of this important music publisher may have been lost. Keith also added background on his own impressive career in our industry, as well as his insights on the condition of the industry.

Patricia Maultra was the first employee hired by Learning Unlimited by its three founders, which included Keith Mardak.  Keith went on to become Chairman of Hal Leonard Publishing and all throughout the early days, Patricia was there.  She began working for Zeb Billings in his retail store in 1960 and rememberswhen Keith started part time as a teacher.  Pat recalls that she knew from the start that Keith was “going places because of his driven spirit and passion for music.”  She takes great pride in the staff and the success of the company.  She is also proud of her daughter, Sue,

Larry Morton grew up in a family in St. Louis that had a strong love of music. His parents provided piano lessons for his older sister and later Larry began learning music. His father encouraged him to follow his dream of being involved with music. Larry played in the marching band in high school and went on to study music composition in college. He worked for Lowell Samuel at Samuel Music in Effingham, Illinois, before being hired by Keith Mardak at Hal Leonard Inc. Larry has grown in the company to become president, all the while leading several industry associations including R

Mark Sendroff grew up close to downtown New York and at a young age fell in love with Broadway shows.  Following his love of the theater and interest in the law, Mark became one of only a few lawyers specializing in theater in New York.  While his practice has grown over the years, so has his passion to share the finer points to students interested as he is to work in the entertainment law field. Mark produced the Mostly Mercer album bringing several of his friends to record their favorite Johnny Mercer songs.  One track features Mark himself, proving he is not just another pretty

Mary Vandenberg started at Hal Leonard as the sole licensing administrator in the Milwaukee office and eventually became the Vice President of Business Affairs.  In that role she dealt with copyright, trademark and other intellectual property issues and was the liaison with music rights owners and others from whom the company licensed rights for its products.  She developed many of the templates used by the company in its various licensing and business contract areas.  She now is a consultant to the Business Affairs department, handles all of the contracts for the book trade area,