Steve West

Gunnar Biggs grew up in a deeply musical family, guided by his father, Dr. Millard Biggs, a professional French horn player and longtime professor at San Diego State University. Following in his father’s footsteps, Gunnar became both a performer and an educator, teaching double bass at SDSU for over 25 years and directing jazz ensembles at Palomar Community College, while also maintaining a thriving private studio.

Harry Carter was already a school band director when he opened a music store in Ottumwa, Iowa. The year was 1948 when Harry and two partners set out to develop a store specializing in customer service for band directors. As the store grew, Harry hired college friends and several buddies from his army days over a dozen men in fact.

Robin Walenta attended the University of Northern Iowa and Middle Tennessee State University before joining West Music in 1982. She was named president/CEO of the company in 2007. Robin was appointed to the NAMM ExCom and has also served as a board member for the National Association of School Music Dealers and treasurer for the Iowa Alliance for Art Education.

Eleanor West and her husband Pearl established a music store in Iowa City just a year after getting married in 1940. Eleanor was the bookkeeper in the early years of West Music Company and was known to make a penny last during the Great Depression and World War II. She also played an important role with her husband in the Scull Groups by expanding the goals of the sharing group to help improve the business of its members. Her son Steve served as Chairman of NAMM from 2001-2003 and daughter Sheri was the founding director of the NAMM Foundation’s  Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad

Ryan West shared many of his memories of traveling abroad with his father, Steve, to understand and appreciate how the business great and diversified including their early distribution of Miyazawa Flutes..  West Music has always been innovative as a music retailer, and their flute line is just one example.  The store was established by Ryan’s grandparents in 1941, right when the country was marching off to war.  The store thought outside the box to keep their business going during those hard years and focused on supporting the school band programs.  Ryan’s father served on the NAM