Sarah Strickland is the School Services Manager for Elefante Music in New Jersey. Her journey began in the rental program before she transitioned into teaching. In 2020, Sarah was promote...
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...
Patti Thurston, VP of Efficacy at The Designory, embodies a spirit of gratitude that permeates every aspect of her life and work. With more than 20 years of dedicated service to The Desig...
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...
Māhealani Uchiyama felt a passion for music and dance from a very young age and could see the importance of expressing yourself through the forms and how it often touches a part of your s...
Donna Ulisse has fond memories of her grandmother teaching her to sing at a young age. And that is all Donna wanted to do! As her career developed, she was encouraged by many in the music...
Jan Ulrich’s brother Kelly Patterson began working at H&H Music Services in 1987 as an intern. Jan was hired just three years later in the service department. She works closely with h...
Shae Usher was just a teenager when she was asked to help Chris Tucker arrange his birthday party. Chris requested that Usher perform (the artist, no relation to Shae) so she called Usher...
Mary Vandenberg started at Hal Leonard as the sole licensing administrator in the Milwaukee office and eventually became the Vice President of Business Affairs. In that role she dealt wi...
