David Schommer was playing in the Mississippi Community Symphonic Band when he approached the conductor, David Miller, and inquired about forming a swing band. David had the vision of a s...
Patrick Selmer is proud of his family’s long and important history as instrument makers in France. The company produces many of the finest band and orchestra instruments in the world and ...
Brian Shepard provided a meaningful review on the history of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) during his NAMM Oral History interview. Brian outlined the early years of the o...
Marilyn Shepard taught music in public schools for thirty-five years. Ever since she was young, she was involved in making music, along with her twin sister, as well as collecting instrum...
Holger Siems had a prolific career in music publishing. Beginning in his native Germany, Holger worked for several top publishing firms in key positions. Among his many accomplishments in...
Barbara Siler is the Assistant Director of Bands at Bellbrook-Sugarcreek Schools, a small but growing school system. She teaches grades six through twelve. At the beginning of her career,...
Paula Simmons wanted to create a shop where good quality instruments could be accessible to all those who came in the store. As a teacher, Paula was very interested in providing lessons ...
András Simonyi grew up listening to traditional Yiddish and Hungarian folk music, but his true love was rock and roll music. This became a lifeline for him growing up behind the iron curt...
Sivamani has become the lead drummer and percussionist for India’s renowned film composer, AR Rahman, and as a result has gained a following among young musicians. Sivamani provides his ...
Lynda Smith started on the piano early in her life and was always fascinated by the instruments at her local record shop. Her love for classical music led her down the path of studying mu...
Todd Smith is the Band Director at River Trails Middle School in Mount Prospect, Illinois. He began teaching 17 years ago in River Grove, Illinois and moved to RTMS 12 years ago to his cu...
Johnny Smith played drums professionally with the Oak Ridge Boys and Travis Tritt, among others, before a group of investors approached him to help create the Songbirds Guitar Museum. Joh...
Greg Snyder has been the Director of Bands at Lakota West High School in West Chester, Ohio for 25 years. He talks here about some challenges that come with leading a music program and ho...
Alyce Spoto is the Beginning Band Director in Muscatine, Iowa, where she assists 4th graders in choosing their instruments and teaches 5th graders in the development of their technique. S...
Charles Staley is the Fine Arts Chair at Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville, Illinois. He speaks about growing as an educator and the importance of placing students first to provide ...
TM Stevens was a well-known character within the music industry who was respected for his design and endorsement of products as well as his mega career as a musician. TM was also beloved ...
Jeanne Stiernberg teams with her husband, John, to run the Stiernberg Consulting Firm. Since the fourth grade, when she began piano lessons, Jeanne has always been active in music. Whil...
John Stiernberg was active in the music industry for decades and provided services as a consultant that he developed from his experience and relationships. Before establishing his consult...
Jochen Stock is the president of Just Music in Berlin Germany, one of (if not the) largest music retail stores in the world! With a space of 7000 square meters, the vast store is equally...
Billy Taylor was first and foremost a jazz pianist. This fact might surprise some people who knew Billy best for one of a number of other careers he enjoyed in music, including teaching, ...
Tess Taylor is the president of the National Association of Record Industry Professionals (NARIP), which is one of the largest music business networks in the world. Tess formed the assoc...
Bob Taylor enrolled in wood shop while a student in high school and made a guitar for his final grade. The idea of making his own guitars came easy to Bob and he set out to create his own...
John Tedeschi started playing music again when his son took up the saxophone in the school band and needed someone to practice improvisation with. John had been playing the guitar since h...
Abe Thomas has shown remarkable insight and made great strides forward in the music therapy arena. Able to identify a unique instrument, the OmniChord, and immediately see its value to no...
David Thomas is the second tenor for the singing group Take 6. He joined the group only five years after they were formed and soon became an important element in their unique sound. Dur...
William Thomas is a recent retiree who served as first the head Band Director at Lakota East High School outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. He gives insights on the challenges and rewards of be...
Mike Tyler has been involved with music his entire life, and at the age of five he was playing clarinet. He was a rock drummer while in college studying music education and was later a sc...
Mark Vail has preserved some of the music products industry’s greatest history as author and researcher of a series of publications. In 1993, BackBeat Books published Mark’s landmark book...
Andrew Vickers teaches middle school instrumental music in DeWitt, Iowa. Classes under his instruction range from concert band, jazz band, and even guitar classes, as well as private less...
Dee Vinton was known as Dancin’ Dee around the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music where she was a noted docent since the early 2000’s. Dee was fond of telling her tour groups that h...
Enrico Weller is a historian of the musical traditions of Markneukirken Germany. In fact, Dr. Weller wrote an informative volume outlining the many important contributions and innovations...