Greg Grieme was a banker when he met Bill Gray who asked for some support. Bill explained his idea to create a company that would invest in and support music companies. Together they form...
Franco Guccini expanded his family’s cane business from basket making to producing reeds for musical instruments. As president of Marca: Aches Reeds Canas Accessories, established in 1957...
Wendal Jones began playing double reed instruments as a child in grade school. He switched to saxophone for a time to play in a number of dance bands in the Colorado area. After college, ...
Dick Knaub served as president of the Rico Reed Corp. during the 1970s. He oversaw the reed manufacturer’s expansion into magazine advertisements and the company’s return to industry even...
Mark Kortschot is a Professor of Engineering at the University of Toronto who was approached by Guy Légère with an interesting idea in 1997. Guy wanted to make a synthetic reed for the cl...
R. Thomas Lockie’s grandfather started a small music store in downtown Los Angeles in the 1920s. The store was later owned and operated by Tom’s father who played “keep the store in busin...
Amy Mao teamed with Dr. Paul Shelden in 2004 to create a new line of band instruments. With the growing technology available in China, Amy and Paul set out to produce the finest musical i...
Walt Ostermeyer had a solution to the complaint of millions of school age music students who came into his music retail store, the wood reed tastes yucky. Walt designed a series of reeds ...
Francesco Passera's journey in music began with a lifelong passion. While his sister pursued guitar and piano performance, Francesco's path led him to business school and a career outside...
Mimi Piper was looking for a part time job after raising her three boys when a neighbor told her of an opening at Rico Reeds in Los Angeles. She joined the company as an assistant in 197...
Jean Francois Rico had an early interest in news photography, but following his grandmother’s passing, Jean began working at the company his grandfather had established, Rico Reeds. The c...
Paul Shelden was a Professor Emeritus in Music for Brooklyn College and both studied and taught music at Juilliard, beginning on clarinet and saxophone, but branching into electronic musi...
Marvin Snyder became president of Rico Reeds in 1976, after managing the cane plantations, which were used to make the reeds. His father worked with the Lockie family, who owned a chain o...
Emmanuel Tonnelier is the General Manager for Vandoren Paris, the world famous reed maker based in France. He works closely with Bernard Van Doren, who is the grandson of the founder. Emm...
Bernard Van Doren is the grandson of the founder of Vandoren Paris, the world famous reed maker. His grandfather, Eugene, formed the company in 1905 based on his technique of making high ...
Gary Winder has been active in music sales for over 30 years. Gary worked with G. Leblanc and Coda Music Technologies before he moved on in 1997 to join Yamaha, finally serving as Directo...