Ney Nakamura established Marutec Music, a distribution company based in Brazil in 1994. The company distributed Yamaha consumer keyboards in the early days and later expanded into the gui...
John Papadolias began working at Lyon & Healy in Chicago in 1999 as a harp technician. The job is perfectly suited for John who has a long history as a musician and instrument tech. E...
Massimo Dolce was born in Italy and became his family’s first musician when he studied piano at the age of nine. He focused on business management in school with his driving passion for m...
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...
Russ Gazda recalls listening to his mother playing the Hawaiian Guitar as a child. He played the accordion and later was introduced to the Hammond B-3, thanks to recordings by his hero Bo...
Sonja Lynne grew up in her mother’s music studio and found her voice as a singer. Sonja studied opera and can still be heard singing in her church. She had a few jobs, including as a scho...
Tom Tuson was just 12 years old when he was hired by the Wurlitzer company to demonstrate their organs. As a “Wurlitzer Kid” he played at state fairs and supermarkets to gain the attentio...
Pat Emmett has had a whirlwind of a musical career! He began playing trombone in junior high school and even took lessons while serving in the US Navy. After earning a degree at North Tex...
Melanie Brooks grew up around music! Her grandparents owned a music store and her parents established Brooks LTD Piano Products, which she purchased from them in 2009. Her father created ...
Chris Tso is a perfect example of the benefits the music products industry receives when a musician enters it's world. Chris grew up blocks away from the Apollo Theater and the Cotton Clu...
Jeff Sazant began working with his brother, Sheldon, at Steve’s Music in 1967. The Canadian-based music store has played a significant role in the industry and gained a reputation for its...
Lynn Martin has always been a passionate music maker, and as a leader of the music products industry, he has brought that same drive to creating and selling products that assist others to...
Jason Bartel opened Maple Leaf Strings in 2011, right across the street from his father’s business, Baroque Violin Shop, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The two companies helped each other, and ofte...
Rebecca Ensley studied clarinet in college and yet somehow got caught up in the crazy world of stringed instruments as a luthier and repair technician. It all started in 1991 when a frien...
Mark Mason has always been interested in technology. He was only ten years old when he began programming computers. He became a technician for Microsoft in the 1990s and played a role in ...
Tiffany Johnson gets a real kick from serving her school accounts for Southwest Strings and helping each obtain the instruments and services they need in order to provide for their music ...
Gregg Proniske began working at Southwest Strings in 1998. The distributor of stringed instruments is located in Tucson, Arizona, and specializes in contracts with school music programs a...
Ann Pizzoferrato practically grew up in her father's music store. She recalls being surrounded by creative music people such as her father Ralph (who established Center Music in Newingto...
Tom Tedesco likes to point out that the music industry and the sports industry have many similarities. Having worked in both, Tom has noticed music and sports people share a special drive...
James Tsaptsinos recalls the Muppet themed drum kit his uncle purchased for him when he was just five years old. He was surrounded by music during his childhood and in high school formed ...
Ed Corvo feels that his experiences playing for many weddings and in bars helped him develop several skill sets he uses every day as National Account Manager at The Music People, includin...
Roger Hart has developed many friends throughout his career in the music products industry. Those friends will likely tell you the two things Roger enjoys talking about the most are music...
Josh Berger has found it very rewarding creating new products with his teammates at The Music People. As Director of Product Development and Marketing, Josh leads the efforts to identify ...
Jim Mingo learned much more than he can put into words from his experience in his school's marching band. Jim developed many skills he uses to this day including how to work within a team...
Geno Mulcahy is your go-to man if you need deep product knowledge on all things pro audio. Around the office at The Music People, where he has worked since 2008, Geno is summoned by sayin...
Pablo Ortega was interviewed during the Summer NAMM Show in 2021, just as Magma Strings was launching their American distribution branch. The show was both Pablo’s first as well as the fi...
Ed Rider grew up playing guitar and writing songs, and later played trombone in the school band. After serving in the United States Army and also playing in the Army Band, Ed found a musi...
Antoni Punti and Gabriel teamed up with Keith Mardak in 1972 to form Hal Leonard Spain. The company’s success was fueled by the home organ boom, which was an important milestone of growth...
Gabriel Lara was asked to create a series of music books with the Hal Leonard company for the Spain market beginning in 1972. Along with his business partner, Antoni Punti, Gabriel worked...
Manel Punti is the Managing Director of Music Distribution, a wholesale business in Spain that his father established in the 1960s. Manel grew up in the music industry as well as a musica...
Juan Grecos is the president of Amigos de la Guitarra de Valencia and has served in that position since 2004. The organization is dedicated to showcasing the Spanish classical guitar and ...
José Nogueira was eight years old when his parents started a music business in Porto, Portugal. He took accordion lessons as a child as well as guitar and piano. In 1974, a group of frien...
