KORG

Athan Billias had a rather impressive vantage point to witness the growth and development of the synthesizer in the late 1970s and early 80s. After performing as a professional musician in New England for several years, Athan found himself working on the landmark M1 keyboard as an engineer for KORG USA. He was later asked to work in Japan, where he lived for six years before returning to the United States. He would later serve as Director of Marketing for Yamaha Corporation of America in the Pro-Audio Division and as the President of the MIDI Association.  

Ted Burger, president of Hanser Music Group, epitomizes a harmonious blend of passion, expertise and dedication. Hailing from Fairport, New York, Ted's musical odyssey began at the tender age of 13, igniting a lifelong devotion to the power of melody and rhythm. From the vibrant local music scene to the global stage, Ted's journey has been punctuated by unforgettable milestones, including a record deal in Japan and the creation of three heavy metal albums. Ted's career trajectory, marked by pivotal roles at renowned musical instrument manufacturers like Korg USA for seven years, c

Leslie Buttonow has dedicated her career to the marketing and promotion of several iconic brands in the music industry. She has worked hard to develop new programs and campaigns to bring attention to the products companies she’s worked for, that her clients, including KORG, Marshall and Vox, create and most recently, IK Multimedia and The WiMN, among others. Leslie was an early pioneer in using social media to broaden brand awareness as well as providing detailed product information online. The NAMM Oral History program has benefited from her dedication to the industry and her man

Rober Castle is currently the managing director of KORG UK, having been tied to the company in one way or another since 1981. In his early days with the company, Rob played a role on the team that designed the world's first keyboard workstation, the KORG M1. The unit was ideal for all musical customers such as guitarists and drummers, not just keyboard players, although it was a keyboard. In addition, Rob spent some time with Sound Crafters.

Joe Castronovo began working for Unicord in the months before the company was sold and became KORG USA. With a solid team, which included the late Mike Kovins, under the leadership of KORG founder, Kahto-san, the company flourished over the next few decades. When Joe’s friend, Mike Kovins, passed away in 2006, Joe took the position of president and guided the company during the years of a recession and strong Internet competition.  

Mike Daws moved to Melbourne from England in 1974 where his brother-in-law, a drummer, introduced him to Billy Hyde. Billy was a well-known drummer who helped his son, Garry, run a successful music store. Mike took a liking to Billy and Garry and was soon hired to help run the business side of a developing wholesale division.

Doug Beck was hired in the keyboard department at Manny’s Music on the famous 48th street in New York City. The street was lined with musical instrument stores and while Doug worked there the industry enjoyed the synthesizer boom and the introduction of MIDI. In the 1990s Doug was a Korg product specialist before establishing a sought-after career as a remixer. He remixed countless recordings to fit the dance scene of the late 1990s, working on thousands of tracks over 12 years. He moved to Las Vegas to retire but soon found himself back in the music as scene as manager and occasi

Michael Doyle was traveling with a band when he had an opportunity to tour the Marshall factory. It was an eye opening and fortuitous experience. Several years later he was offered a job with Korg USA, and was able to rep the Marshall line for over nine years. After working for Fender (he got to meet Leo Fender at a NAMM Show), Michael joined the Guitar Center team. At the time, the chain only had nine stores and Michael takes pride in the company’s growth. Overseeing several guitar projects at Guitar Center, Michael established the Eric Clapton signature series as well as the pri

Ken Fuente is among the music industry’s top sales reps!  He has established himself as an innovative and creative salesman who has befriended his competition to learn all he could about the business and share his thoughts whenever possible.  He has won several awards during his career including the Music and Sound Retailer Rep of the Year Award and has worked with St. Louis Music, Peavey Amps and Gator Cases.  Ken was also a sales manager at Peavey, Samson and KORG USA.  Above all, Ken loves the people of the music industry, which is a key factor in his success because of the man

Marty Golden is the founder of the Canadian music distribution company JAM Industries. Marty began his career in retail, first working for his father in a pawnshop and later a music store. He began making his own line of guitar amplifiers he named JAM (which is comprised of the first letter of his three children’s names). He soon began distributing his amps and was asked to include a new line of products from a company in Japan called KORG. The rest is history. As the company grew, Marty kept close to his roots, putting the retailer first and focusing on the care of his product li

Jack Hotop was among the innovative engineers at KORG during the early synthesizer craze, creating the first MIDI workstation, the KORG M1. During his long career at KORG, Jack has teamed with fellow engineer Jerry Kovarsky who later became product manager. Together they lead the team that created the KORG Oasys and more recently introduced the M3. Jack continues to play keyboards and in fact, can be seen at most NAMM Shows providing a demonstration on the latest products.  

Masahiro Iijima enjoyed working as an engineer in the music industry and was hopeful to one day create his own company and brands.  He worked for KORG in Japan for 5 years, which is where he developed a strong friendship with the associate, who established the company together, Mr. Michi Nozokido.  When Masahiro established Zoom Corporation, his goal was to honor Kato-san and all that he learned in KORG, engineering, management, quality control etc., by building a new company from foundation. Zoom launched its first product, the Zoom 9002, in 1989 and effects processors and record

Seiki Kato was the president of KORG, the Japan based electronics company that has created innovative musical products since his father first established the company in the 1970s. Seiki provided meaningful insight into the international growth of KORG as well as his philosophy moving forward as it relates to global sales and distribution. At the time of his interview, at the 2018 NAMM Show in Anaheim, Seiki expressed gratitude for the fact that his late father was interviewed for the NAMM Oral History program, where it will forever be an opportunity for all those who knew him to r

Tsutomu Katoh had many ideas for using electronics to improve the way people make music in their homes. As the founder of KORG, Katoh-san (also spelled Kato) was able to see his ideas turn into successful musical products. The company introduced an impressive line of products, many of which revolutionized the industry. One such innovative product was the M1, the first synthesizer work station. Mr. Katoh took time during his interview for NAMM to speak of the importance of teamwork and the incredible team, from engineers to the sales force, that he assembled at KORG over the years.

Jerry Kovarsky was the product/brand manager at KORG for over 15 years. Working with Jack Hotop they were part of the team that created a long line of innovative synthesizer products for KORG, including the Triton, the Oasys, and more recently the M3 and the Kronos. Jerry played a vital role in establishing the team of engineers and programmers who worked on these and many other influential products produced by KORG during his time there. Before that he spent 8 years as the Director Of Marketing for Ensoniq, and before that he was both a demonstrator, and later a Product Manager f

Andy Leary bought his first synthesizer when he was in high school and has been hooked ever since. His passion for music and electronics led him to attend a few classes at Stanford University taught by Dr. John Chowning, who is best known for his discovery of FM Synthesis. In 1991, Andy began working at KORG R&D part time while earning his masters degree. He worked on synthesis and audio processing algorithms, discovering his passion for the company’s innovative products and working to provide instruments that assist fellow musicians in crafting their sound.

John Lehmkuhl started playing music at the age of four, beginning with piano lessons in the music store his parents had opened in 1977. By his teenage years, he owned a Minimoog and, in 1983, he attended Yamaha’s three-day conference to teach music store employees how to program the Yamaha DX7. John earned a music performance degree, then began working in a music store selling synthesizers, teaching classes on how to play them, and programming patches for his customers.

Fumio Mieda was hired by the founder of KORG, Tsutomu Katoh, back in 1967. Mieda-san began working on a number of innovations as he hoped to improve the function of electronic organs. The results of his efforts led to a number of advances for the emerging synthesizer. Just prior to this, Mr. Mieda developed the Uni-Vibe, which was used famously by Jimi Hendrix (a fact he did not discover for some ten years). While at KORG he focused on monophonic and later polyphonic synthesizers including the now historic Prototype No. 1, and later the PE series of polyphonic synthesizers includi

Allan Pearlman grew up in Queens New York and taught at a local high school after college before working in the music industry. In 1975, Sid Hack, hired Allan as a sales rep for Unicord, the same company his father, Ben, worked for 31 years. Allen loved the industry and continued to work for the company even during company mergers, such as when Wick purchased the Unicord from Gulf & Western. The company carried many emerging products from Japan including the High Flyer Guitars and electronic keyboard made by a new company called KORG. Over the years as the KORG product line in

Greg Phillinganes reminds one of a chameleon with his innate ability to perfectly blend into any musical situation or setting. While still a teenager, Greg had the opportunity to join Steve Wonder’s Wonderlove band. This opportunity would help shape Greg’s musicality, giving him exposure to and the chance to play virtually any genre of music. Greg went on to work with Michael Jackson, Eric Clapton, and Herbie Hancock among many others serving both as an artist and as music director. In addition, Greg has written and arranged for TV, film, the Grammys, and Emmys along with performi

Dan Phillips enjoyed his experiences playing drums in his junior high school marching band and singing in the choir. He pursued music in college and became fascinated with the quickly developing electronic technology used in musical instruments. In 1989 Dan began writing for Electronic Musicians magazine and went on to write reviews on the latest gear. Charlie Bright at KORG USA hired Dan to write product manuals and soon his role also included designing user interfaces. His first project was to design the interface for the Wavestation, which was first introduced as a vector synth

James Sajeva is the Senior Brand Manager for KORG USA, a firm he has worked for since 1996. His passion and love of music began at a young age and throughout his youth KORG instruments were a part of his musical development. While working for a Sam Ash store, James was approached by a KORG rep about joining the company. His dream job ensued. Already knowing a great deal about the product line, he started as a support technician and was later promoted to managing that same department. With his role in brand management, James enjoys working with several departments within the compan

Drew Schlesinger started playing organ after seeing The Doors on The Ed Sullivan Show. While in college, Drew purchased his first Moog synthesizer and attended the Boston School of Electronic Music to learn synthesis with ARP 2600's and modular synths. Drew knew he wanted to be involved with programming synthesizers. The release of MIDI was an exciting time for music technology and he developed sounds for the Casio CZ-101 that he sold to music stores. This led to writing a book on programming CZ synths for Alfred Music and a career creating presets for manufacturers like Korg, Cas

Peter Schwartz is a pianist, composer, and synthesist who has worked for KORG on such projects as the M1, Wavestation, Prophecy and OASYS. After a wonderful experience with his classical music education and growing up alongside the explosion of synthesizer technology, Peter landed his first job in the music industry at Sam Ash in New York. While working for the retail store as a salesman he met Jack Hotop of KORG USA. Jack became a mentor to Peter (and several other key contributors to the industry) and encouraged him to consult for KORG. Peter’s first project was to program sound

Victoria Theodore has had some marvelous musical experiences both as a musician and teacher. Her first big gig was a seven-year stint touring with Stevie Wonder in his band. Being classically trained on the piano, Stevie gave her a deep lesson in the art of improvisation. Other notable performances followed including being in the house band for the Arsenio Hall television program and playing with his guests such as Prince, Earth Wind & Fire as well as Gladys Knight.

Tadashi (Sunny) Umekage is an executive within the Japan Music Industry who has been a strong supporter of NAMM and several of the organization’s programs including the NAMM Oral History program.  Umekage-san has worked within the industry for such companies as Yamaha and KORG and is a passionate member of the industry.  He has worked hard to provide strong relationships with his customers and as a result has developed many important relationships over his career.  Beginning in 2004, Umekage-san has provided background history, contact information and suggestions to the NAMM staff

Morgan Walker worked in the marketing side of the sports industry before being hired by Korg USA, in 2014, to focus on public relations and managing special events. She grew in her position, becoming the Director of Market and Communications for Korg. With a steady stream of innovative products from Korg’s brands, Morgan takes great pride in the work she does to bring those products to their customers. Morgan is also a Council Member for Women of NAMM (WoN) and played a key role in the WoN leadership summit in October 2022. WoN is dedicated to increasing female representation in t

Laura Whitmore’s passion for music began at a young age, learning to play guitar and writing songs as a teenager. She attended Hofstra University where she earned a B.S. in Music Merchandising and an MBA in Marketing. Laura worked for CBS Records and Korg, where she rose through the ranks of marketing assistant to marketing manager and artist relations for Korg, Marshall, and Vox.