Michael Heuser recounted his early meetings with Mr. Ikutaro Kakehashi, the founder of Roland Corporation during his NAMM interview. The two men worked on product ideas as well as the goa...
Dennis Houlihan has played many important roles within the industry, all of which have been driven by his passion and love of music and music making. After years as a demonstration artist...
Keith Huxtable worked for Rose Music (now Yamaha) in Melbourne for 13 years beginning in the early-1970s. Starting in the service department and moving into product management, he witness...
Kazuo Ishibashi spent over 25 years in the Special Equipment Division of JVC (Japan Victor Corporation) and headed their musical instrument engineering section. JVC marketed electronic o...
Gez Kahan, on a whim, offered to be the musical director for his college’s production of Tommy. The experience lit a fire under him and soon he was exploring all of the latest gear, espec...
Ikutaro Kakehashi, the founder of Roland Corporation, created more than a successful business with a host of important innovations in electronic musical instruments; he has also paid trib...
George Kirkwood joined the Rodgers Instrument Corp. in the engineering department just five years after the company was formed by Rodgers Jenkins and Fred Tinker. Beyond his fourth year ...
Alberto Kniepkamp engineered many of the electronic organs produced by the Lowrey Organ Company in the 1970s and 80s. Alberto took an active role in the development of the MX1 Lowrey Orga...
Dewey Kuhn grew up listening to his grandmother playing the organ, which she did in her younger days accompanying silent movies. His passion grew as he learned to play.
Don Lewis was trained as an electronic engineer and, because of his love for music, he created one of the very early integrated-sound controllers, a precursor to MIDI. In the early 1970s ...
Jason Lovett, sales director for Headline Audio, boasts a rich tapestry of experience woven through his journey in the music industry. From his start in music retail in 1997 to his pivota...
Carlo Lucarelli graduated with an electronics engineering degree in 1963 and after three years with GTE in Milano, he joined the music products industry first working with Farfisa Organs....
David Marshall grew up in a musical home and played piano and cello at an early age. As part of the Wessex Youth Orchestra he played in many prestigious concerts including the Schools Pr...
Chris Meyer grew up during the dawn of the synthesizer and wanted to both play and create electronic music. He earned a degree in engineering to pay for his hobby never realizing he could...
Bruce Mihalek has played the piano since he was just eight years old. When he saw the Beatles on TV, Bruce purchased a guitar and formed his own band. The band was the Animals Fax of Lyfe...
Jun-Ichi Miki joined the Roland Corporation in 1977 right after graduating from university. After working in research of sound synthesis and analysis for electronic musical instruments, i...
Brian Nunney was born in Cheltenham, England, and served in the Royal Air Force for four years before he was hired by the Littlewoods Department store. The company purchased a small musi...
Hector Olivera was born in Argentina where he studied organ with his father, a noted church organist. In 1965 Hector studied at Julliard School of Music and soon after that began providin...
Dave Rivard has thoroughly enjoyed his role at Roland Corporation as a sales rep. He has grown the role over the years and covered nearly every state, making connections, introducing new ...
Lloyd Robbins became executive vice-president of the Rodgers Instruments Corporation in 1997. Rodgers is part of the Roland Corporation and is dedicated to creating its unique and success...
Jeff Rona played a critical role in the coming together of the minds and companies that would agree on the MIDI specs back in the 1980s. The meetings took place at NAMM shows over several...
Dick Schalk began working for the Rodgers Instrument Corp. in the 1970s when the Hillsboro, Oregon company was independently owned, then sold to CBS Musical Instruments. He remained with...
Lowell Simpson spent his entire life in music. As a child he played music as well as sang and in fact, continued to sing over the decades even after working as a sales manager for several...
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...
Nancy Kewin Smith is a pioneering senior executive who served the music products industry in an era in which she was among a small number of women in high-ranking positions. After earning...
Yuji Tanaka is a Senior Executive Officer for Roland Corporation who has enjoyed a successful career in the music products industry. Yuji provided detail about how and why he came to work...
Hidekazu Tanaka became the fourth president of the Roland Corporation in Japan in 2005. The role within the company followed nearly 25 years of service within the company including workin...
Csaba Toth was working in the hotel management business when, by pure chance, he had the opportunity to work in the music products industry. As a keyboard player in a local band, Csaba wa...
Giuseppe Vecchietti, known throughout his career as Beppe, primarily worked for three companies over his long career. All three were located in the same Italian Marche region by the Adria...
Jay Wanamaker found his passion for music as a member of a drum and bugle corps and eventually honed his skills while attending the Crane school of music at SUNY Potsdam University in Pot...
Paul Youngblood has become the expert of the BOSS effects pedal products due to his longevity with the Roland company. He has witnessed first hand, and took great part in the development ...