Norbert Abel formed the Abel Hammer Company (Helmut Abel GmbH) in 1982 along with his father, to manufacture piano hammerheads, shanks and flanges for the piano industry. Over the years,...
Paul Adams began his career as a piano technician in New Jersey after earning his degree in music at Rutgers University in 1972. Soon after establishing his business, Paul joined the Pia...
Dennis Alexander has sought to engage and inspire music makers at all levels throughout his long and successful career as a music educator. As a professor of music with a focus on pedagog...
John Allegrezza began working in the piano business in 1957 and soon discovered he had a real passion for the business and the people. In 1981 he opened his store, Allegrezza Pianos, in R...
Charles Anderson displayed his love for music education beginning at a young age. In fact, he was hired at the age of 15 to teach while he was still in high school. Over the years he ex...
Scott Anderson was among the renowned sales representatives at Wurlitzer during the iconic company’s heyday. When Wurlitzer “meant music to millions” (to use their famous slogan) Scott ...
Thomas Austin was a key part of the Sherman Clay team for over 40 years! The store chain focused on pianos; however, Thomas recalls the home organ boom in the 1970s as the company was a ...
Rick Baldassin is the President and Founder of Baldassin Pianos in Salt Lake City, Utah. As a piano technician, Rick has been an active and passionate member of the Piano Technicians Gui...
Jane Smisor Bastien together with her husband. James Bastien wrote the best-selling method book, Bastien Piano Methods, which was enjoyed by millions of students and teachers worldwide. T...
Mike Bates is the senior member of the Institutional Solutions Group in the Keyboard Division of Yamaha Corporation of America. Over the last 28 years with the company, Mike’s career has ...
Frank Baxter is the proud founder of Piano World (PianoWorld.com). Having programed webpages in the early 1990s, Frank used his skill and his insight that the web would soon be growing, t...
Sharman Beasley-Vesecky grew up in the music business as her grandfather, William Howard Beasley, served as the president of the NAMM Board of Directors from 1939-1940. Sharman has becom...
Carma Lou Beck was an active musician and teacher when she began working in music retail in Iowa in the 1960s. She opened her own store in Cedar Rapids in 1967, after working for a few ot...
Keith Beckingham recalls watching his father, a church organist, playing the piano at home and then sitting down and copying the music he heard. He grew up fascinated by the piano and org...
Richard Bennett served many roles during his long career in music, perhaps most notably as the sales rep for Wurlitzer towards the end of the 1960s. His involvement in retail and his phil...
Mike Bennett began playing trumpet at the age of eight and played jazz trumpet and piano throughout high school. He studied music at the University of Tulsa and in 1980, landed a part tim...
George Benson played trombone during school and studied piano during college. It was during that time that he began working for a local music store. He worked for Hoover Music in Jackso...
Lou Berger was an energetic piano salesman in the style of the old piano traveler of a by-gone era. In fact, what Lou knew about selling pianos he learned from some of the old timers when...
Bob Berkman has a passion about the player piano and the player piano rolls. Bob's grandparents had a player piano when he was a child and he grew up fascinated by the instrument. Once ...
Seymour Bernstein shared great insight into his career and life in music during his NAMM Oral History interview. He proudly spoke of the first moment he put his hands on the white keys of...
Greg Billings is the retired president of the Steinway Piano Gallery of Naples in Florida. Greg is also a very active member of the music products industry, appearing on panel discussions...
Zeb Billings opened Billings Pianos in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1956 beginning a long and celebrated career in the music industry. With great success as a retailer, Zeb branched out into ...
Terry Bingley was a leader in the Canadian Music Products Industry for several decades. He began his career when he formed a music retail store before working with Yamaha and, later, serv...
Don Bird founded Conn Organs of Fresno in 1973 in Fresno, CA. He started his career in music, working for Sherman Clay, Co. in 1967 as a general manager of a single store, working complet...
Lyle Bird grew up in a musical family with his mother playing the piano daily. As a teenager he played trumpet in several swing bands during the big band era including with such leaders a...
Steve Bird joined the piano industry right out of school and established a life-long career that he has thoroughly enjoyed. While working for Sherman Clay, Steve was asked to open up sev...
Deena Bird began teaching piano while she was still a teenager. She later established her own music school, which for a while was located in the Steinway Gallery of her hometown of San A...
John Blanch grew up learning all about solid customer service from his father, who owned a grocery store north of Sydney, Australia. Those lessons helped John during his career in the mus...
Ed Blasco was one of the best known organ salesmen in Kansas City during the 1970s. He worked for Sherman Clay, Jenkins Music and even ran his own store, Ed Blasco’s Conn Organ Center in ...
Marvin Blickenstaff has had an indelible mark on countless music students of all ages over his long career. As an educator he taught at the college level and has provided thousands of wor...
Ingbert Bluthner followed in the rich history of his family tradition of building world-class pianos. Under Ingbert’s leadership the company expanded production and models along with deve...
