Marcia Stearns is a regular attendee at the annual RPMDA conventions and can often be found volunteering to introduce a speaker or tallying the session surveys. Her passion for the busin...
Jackie Stein, like so many of her co-workers at Remo Inc, feels a strong family bond with many of the employees. It is a tempo set by the founder, Remo Belli, who spends time each day he...
Dodie Stevens loves to sing and has for as long as she can remember. Her parents told her she was singing before she talked. Dodie grew up performing on radio and early TV dance programs....
Ellie Stevens has a smile that lights up the room. And when that room is the lobby of Ted Brown Music in Tacoma, people seem to feel right at home right when they walk in the door! As a k...
Jeanne Stiernberg teams with her husband, John, to run the Stiernberg Consulting Firm. Since the fourth grade, when she began piano lessons, Jeanne has always been active in music. Whil...
Leslie Stirm is the owner of the Instrumental Music Center in Tucson, Arizona. Joining the store in 2001, Leslie has helped develop the store’s team, which has a strong focus on customer ...
Gloria Stone was the book-keeper and the office manager for the Record Plant. Her husband, Chris, and Gary Kellgren opened the recording studio in 1968 in New York City. The company exp...
Colleen Summerhays recalled the day in 1940 when she walked into a local music store to inquire about a clerical position. She met the owner, her future husband, Hy Summerhays, who had op...
Katelyn Summerhays was 11 years old when she had her first official job in her family’s music store. Her grandparents opened Summeryhays Music in the Salt Lake City area in 1936, and her ...
Laurel Summerhays was 11 years old when she received her first paycheck working in her family’s music store. Her parents, Hyrum and Colleen, opened Summerhays Music in 1936 and their fami...
Lori Supinie was an active music maker since she was a child. Throughout her life she provided music and music lessons to others as well as being a strong leader within the music products...
Reiko Suzuki discovered her passion for music at a young age as she watched her father and mother operate a company that manufactured harmonicas and other instruments. This coupled with h...
Millie Swanson was known as “The Sweetheart of Wurlitzer.” She joined the company in 1931 as an office clerk while still in high school. Over the years, as Wurlitzer grew into the largest...
Stacey Swanson was in high school when her band director changed her life by suggesting she switch from the flute to the bassoon. The complexity of the instrument allowed Stacey to carefu...
Syndenn Sweet was the first woman hired as a luthier at Bookmans Entertainment Exchange in Tucson, Arizona. This distinction is one she makes with pride, especially considering her father...
Crystal Taliefero is primarily a percussionist, yet she plays many other instruments including the bass and several wind instruments. In 1986, she began her long association with LP, her ...
Pooja Talwar's family background is rooted in the musical instrument and accessory industry in India. Her father, Vijay Talwar, began working for her grandfather’s wood-selling business a...
Julie Tan recalls seeing few women during her first NAMM show in 1989. As her fascinating career developed within the industry, so too has the number of women in high-level roles. Her lov...
Elaine Taylor began working on the bench at Selmer in Elkhart in 1975, where she covered cases. Over the years she has worked in the cork and padding department for saxophones, also in t...
Tess Taylor is the president of the National Association of Record Industry Professionals (NARIP), which is one of the largest music business networks in the world. Tess formed the assoc...
Cynthia Templeton has worked for one and only one company in the music industry. She was hired by Selmer in Elkhart, Indiana in the early 1970s and remained with the company for her enti...
Francesca Jozette Tharpe was so thrilled to have a role in her school's choir. The experience gave her a musical outlet and self-confidence, which led to her involvement with Musical Thea...
Victoria Theodore has had some marvelous musical experiences both as a musician and teacher. Her first big gig was a seven-year stint touring with Stevie Wonder in his band. Being classic...
Lyndell Thompson was delighted when her two sons, Phil and James, came to her and her husband with a new idea for their Nashville-based leather company. The year was 1978. Until that poi...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Martha Tilton was a famous singer during the Big Band Era b...
Helen Tozzi was hired to set up the accounting for a new music store that was opening in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Progressive Music opened in 1947 and Helen was there on opening day. She...
Samantha Tranchida is very proud of her role at Quinlan and Fabish Music in the Chicago area as she assists young students in discovering the instrument they will play in school. The expe...
Jane Traum and her husband Happy, are the founders of Homespun Music, which for decades has offered a growing collection of musical instrument training classes. Happy began with a new cla...
Leanne Trevalyan was just twelve years old when she taught herself how to play the guitar using the Mel Bay method book on a no-name instrument her mother picked up at Montgomery Wards. L...
Mindi Turner is the Accounting & Office Manager at Tatum Music in Longview, Texas. She is a passion-driven music maker who landed her dream job. She played clarinet all throughout sch...
Sylvia Tyson wrote songs that a generation sang, and she also recorded songs by other songwriters which helped define the Folk Music revival of the 1960s. In 1962 she wrote “You Were On M...
Nancy Ubick is quick to point out that her mentor in business has been Mary Vandenberg, the pioneering Business Affairs executive for Hal Leonard. In fact it was Nancy who succeeded Mary...