Southwest Strings

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 friend who was working at Southwest Strings in Tucson suggested she apply for an opening in the mail order department. Her role expanded soon after to submitting school bids and working the retail end of the business, all the while taking classes and gaining experience as a luthier and repair tech. With her background in music education, Rebecca knows how important it is to provide a child with easy-to

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 students. Talking with teachers and getting to know them and their needs has become a favorite part of her job and a critical one for the success of Southwest Strings, an instrument distributor located in Tucson, Arizona. Tiffany joined the company in 2000, first working with the founder, Steve Shepard, taking orders over the phone.

Mark Mason's passion for technology began early; he started programming computers at just ten years old. This early interest blossomed into a career when he became a technician for Microsoft in the 1990s, contributing to the launch of Windows 2000. After a period dedicated to teaching, Mark joined Southwest Strings in Tucson, Arizona, in 2001. He felt a deep connection to their mission of supplying instruments to school programs, a cause close to his heart as a lifelong musician. Mark's journey in music began with piano lessons as a child, expanding to guitar, bass, and keyboards

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 around the country. Gregg started out on the phone taking orders and now wears many hats for the company including operations, managing the warehouse, and running their website. One of the most meaningful elements of his job is the people he works with, which he refers to as “a true family.”