Charles Avsharian is the CEO of Shar Musical Products, which he established in 1962 along with his brother, Michael. The brothers toured for years as professional musicians and along wit...
Jason Bartel opened Maple Leaf Strings in 2011, right across the street from his father’s business, Baroque Violin Shop, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The two companies helped each other, and ofte...
Chuck Berghofer is the answer to such trivia questions as Who played bass on Nancy Sinatra's big hit "These Boots Where Made For Walking" and Who is playing the bass lick for the TV theme...
George Borun began his luthier endeavors as a hobby and soon found himself enthralled with the angles, the woods and the tools of the trade. He embarked on a mission to assemble the bluep...
Dave Bresnan had a true passion for music that began when he was fifteen when he learned to play the piano. Throughout the 1960’s, Dave played guitar and banjo in several groups after dis...
Lou Capece began selling musical products in the 1960s and has since become one of the industry’s largest musical instrument wholesale distributors. One of the successes of the company ha...
Ellen Cavanaugh brought her innovative business ideas and skillful communication and marketing concepts to expand the historic brands that make up the Super-Sensitive Musical String Compa...
John Cavanaugh and his father bought the Super-Sensitive Musical String Company in 1967 and worked long and hard to bring the products into new and international markets. John created the...
Gary Chen is the owner of Stein On Vine, the historic horn and string shop in Hollywood, California whose customer list reads like a who's who of jazz and film music. Gary was hired by t...
Rock Clouser is the String Brand Manager for KHS America but would you believe his passion for music started with the zither? His fondness for the instrument ignited a passion for playing...
John Connolly established the Connolly Music Company (originally Connolly & Co., Inc.) back in 1970. Best known for distributing such brands as Thomastik-Infeld and König & Meyer,...
Jake Connolly has fond memories of working with his father, who became his mentor in life and the music business. Together, father and son grew their string distribution company from a sh...
Jacquelyn Dillon-Krass was a pioneering woman in the music products industry. As a music educator she first connected with the industry when hired by Scherl & Roth in 1970 to head up ...
Jim Eaton became a professional cellist and played often with his brother. He played in several orchestras and symphonies as well as small groups. Jim’s passion and knowledge of string in...
Ahmet Ediz grew up in Turkey and began playing the violin at an early age. He became a professional concert musician and traveled with several orchestras. Along the way he noticed a nee...
Amy England was just seven years old when she proudly sold her first set of guitar strings in her family’s Indianapolis music store. Her grandparents, Leola and Amos Arthur, had opened Ar...
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 frien...
Kurt Glaesel was born into a violin-making family, which dates back to 1720, but it was Kurt who made his family name nationally known. After a noted 20 year career with Heinrich Roth, Ku...
Joe Guth’s career in the music products industry began with a short stint with Selmer and as a former band director he brought a great perspective to selling instruments to school music p...
Reiner Hammerl is the son of Josef Hammerl, who in 1938 opened a drugstore in Germany. Among the products he created himself were natural wood varnishes and stains that soon became well u...
Denisa Hanna took guitar lessons with jazz great Johnny Smith before working with him at his musical instrument store in Colorado Springs, CO. While working in the store she met and fell...
Won Jung Kim is the president of Shimro Musical Instruments Company in Seoul, South Korea. The company is a leader in manufacturing all levels of bowed instruments and in recent years has...
Judy Kaufman and her husband, John Pedersen, own Amazing Grace Music, a charming and funky (in a good way) music store located in San Anselmo, California. The couple purchased the store i...
Richard Keldsen is the president of Saga Music in San Francisco, California. His first musical inspiration was hearing Earl Scruggs playing Bluegrass banjo for the first time. After two...
Gerhard Klier’s grandfather, Anton Schrötter, owned a violin shop and workshop in Cheb/Eger. In the 1920s several of Gerhard’s relatives moved to the United States. His uncle, Roman Klier...
Irena Komatar was the founder and president of the Lastra Company, located in the country of Slovenia. What started out as a small music retail store quickly grew into both retailing and ...
Neil Lilien has been a life long supporter of the arts, playing music since he was a child and growing up to own one of the finest names in stringed instruments. Neil worked for Guild Gui...
Günter Lobe is a violin maker who is known for his faithful copies of Stradivari and other famous violins. He was an apprentice from 1977 to 1980 in the Ernst Heinrich Roth workshop in Bu...
Harald Lorenz is the fourth generation of peg turners originating from a traditional farming community named Ursprung/ Počátky in the Czech Republic. The family looks back on 125 years of...
Kurt Lutz was a well-regarded German luthier who, along with many other instrument makers, settled in Bubenreuth, Germany following World War II. Mr. Lutz provided a first-hand account of...
Daniel Mari followed in the footsteps of his father in running the Mari String Company in New York City. While serving as president of the company, Daniel worked hard to expand the produc...
Pete McClelland teamed up with his wife to open a folk instrument music store in London in 1975. The idea was new and it was unclear if they would be successful, but they dedicated themse...
