Sandy Feldstein

Edna Adams has been a mentor to many within the music publishing and music retail business since first entering the industry in the early 1970s. She joined Charlie Hansen Music Publishing and Warner Brothers Publishing for which she traveled to dealers around the country. Her extra attention to details provided suggestions on product placement in the stores and ideas on bringing more customers to the store through special programs and promotions. Edna approached her customers with the theory that if they succeeded, she would be successful. After leaving Warner Brothers she worked

Henry Adler helped define the percussion industry with his music publishing company, drum shop and method books.  His amazing life in music began as a drummer during the big band era.  His many gigs and one nighters gained the attention of a friend who encouraged Henry to open a drum studio and music studio in the heart of New York City.  The Henry Adler Music Store near Time Square was an important resource for drummers, both those playing in town and those traveling.  He established the Henry Adler Publishing Company and released a method book he co-wrote with Buddy Rich on the

Dave Black is the Editor-in-Chief, School Method Strategy (formally Editor-in-Chief, School & Pop Publications) of Alfred Music. He was heavily influenced by his junior high band director who provided the perspective of how being in a band would not only help in the development of various disciplines, but in many areas of life as well. In April 1976, Louie Bellson was the featured artist with Dave’s high school jazz band. He stayed at his house, encouraged him to move out to California to attend college/study with him, and Dave’s life changed forever. The two became close frie

Jack Bullock has always enjoyed bringing music to young players. His long and well-respected career as a composer of works for bands and his method book established him as one of the leading writers for the music publishing industry. Working with Columbia and Frank Hackinson in the early days he developed over his career nearly 700 publications. The Columbia catalog was owned by Warner Brothers and later bought by Alfred, which continues to publish his material.  

Carol Cuellar has always had a love for music, especially classic country music, which was somewhat rare for a young girl growing up in England.  When she moved to Florida she landed a filing clerk job at Screen-Gems.  She has been in the music publishing industry ever since.  Early in her career she put her love of country music to work when asked by Frank Hackinson to help create a series of country products. Her first book was 18 Country Ladies/38 Country hits which sold 40,000 copies.  She has worked with an impressive list of publishing pioneers including Frank Hackinson, San

Bob Dingley felt lucky that he fell into the industry, which became his passion and his life-long career. On his way to a trumpet lesson he stopped by the local music store to pick up some sheet music and was asked by a school mate if he wanted a job.  From retail to JW Pepper Music Publishing, Bob learned the business in and out, along the way falling in love with the industry.  He worked with several leaders who helped mentor him, including Sandy Feldstein and branched out on his own as a self-publisher and thanks to his involvement with RPMDA, Bob has become a mentor to others.

Rick Drumm inherited his father’s love of music. His father established Ronnie Drumm's House of Music and Rick spent must of his childhood in the store and playing drums with his father’s many bands and combos.

Sandy Feldstein played an important role in the publishing of music and method books on percussion. With a sharp understanding of the publishing business and music education, Sandy has been at the forefront of technology and marketing methods, which have had success around the world. As a composer, Sandy is well known in the percussion industry for clever and memorable works. Sandy is also the founder and president of Playin’ Time and has been very active in the growing field of recreational music making. Sandy has also played a vital role in the growth and development of the Perc

Bonnie Fitch has always considered herself a music teacher.  After her time in the classroom, she formed her own music store in Las Vegas and tried to make every customer experience a learning opportunity.  With passion and energy abounding, Bonnie has worked long and hard to serve not only her customers and staff but the industry as well.  She has served on several boards including RPMDA, where she helped grow the educational component of the group’s yearly meetings. As owner of Bonnie’s Music Shoppe in Las Vegas, she has been very active within the local schools and the communit

William Heese had a reputation like no other in the music publishing world, a reputation well deserved. Bill was not only a mainstay in the industry for over 40 years, he was a tireless promoter of the music publishing history. Bill played a vital role in several publishing associations including RPMDA, MPA, and even this oral history program for NAMM. He became a mentor and an inspiration for many who witness his example and hoped to follow in his footsteps.

Bob Kohl was hired by Music & Arts in Maryland just before turning sixteen years old and has been in the industry ever since that time.  The store was located in the local mall and he began working within the sheet music department, an area of the industry he would soon fall in love with and remain.  Bob was later hired by Columba Music Publishing to work in their Miami office to transfer over the Belwin inventory, following the acquisition of Belwin Music Publishing by Columbia Music.  Bob moved to Ward Music in Canada and remained with the four store company until it was pur

Chris Scialfa developed his great love and passion for music at a very young age. By the time he was five years old Chris was taking classical piano lessons, which thanks to his understanding teacher, occasionally included works by Chris’ hero, Elton John! He began writing original music when he was 18, the year he joined his first rock band. While pursuing a successful career as a professional musician, Chris found a job at Carl Fischer Music Publishing in New York City in 1997. A few years later, Sandy Feldstein joined the company as President and took Chris under his wing.

David Silverman is a visionary animator, writer and musician best known for his pivotal role in shaping The Simpsons. As a longtime supervising director, he brought dynamic energy and expressive animation to the series, including the original Tracey Ullman shorts. His talents extended beyond Springfield, directing sequences for The Road to El Dorado at DreamWorks and co-directing Monsters, Inc. at Pixar before returning to helm The Simpsons Movie. Music has been a lifelong passion for David, sparked by early exposure to Gilbert and Sullivan productions with his parents.

Aaron Stang, like so many of us in the music industry, clearly remembers a very inspirational moment in the development of his passion for music. As a kid he was visiting Manny’s Music in New York when he met guitar hero George Benson. That special encounter was one of several that convinced Aaron he would be most fulfilled with a career in the music industry. Aaron went on to have a very successful career in music publishing working with Sandy Feldstein at Warner Brothers Publications, and on projects such as the Grammy award-winning Henry Mancini’s Pink Guitar (which features hi

Dale Thompson joined the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) at the remarkable age of 11, already showcasing his talent on the trumpet. Ironically, Dale would later serve as a dedicated steward of the AFM. Before that, he performed with the Escovedo Latin Jazz Band while attending San Francisco State College. Among his many playing highlights, one of the most significant was his six-year tenure with the renowned Glenn Miller Orchestra under the direction of Buddy DeFranco, starting in 1967. During that period, he was invited to test-play Yamaha trumpets while on tour in Japan.