Jim Kaplan

Jim Kaplan and his longtime partner, Jim Botti, were both respected band directors in Pittsburgh-area schools, where they taught and mentored countless students who benefited from their musicianship, discipline, and dedication to music education. Through their years in the classroom, Jim Kaplan helped shape generations of young musicians, many of whom went on to lifelong involvement in music. While teaching, Jim and Jim recognized a growing need for quality private instruction after school. Together, they opened a small teaching studio that included a modest glass case for band accessories. That case soon expanded, and within a few years the business had grown enough for Jim Botti to retire from school teaching and devote his full attention to the store. Jim Kaplan joined him a year later, and together they built a thriving business that proudly served fellow band directors, students, and school music programs from miles around.