Choral Music
Emily Crocker focused on teaching middle school choir when she was a teacher right out of college. The experience was a wonderful foundation for her as it would lead her to work for Hal Leonard Publishing for many years. While a teacher she wrote several pieces that were geared towards middle...
Gladys Hayes taught choir in school for more than 25 years and was very active in vocal programs throughout her career and after her retirement. Gladys and her husband Morris retired to Carlsbad where both volunteered at the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music. Gladys has been very active in...
Wanda Pugh has always enjoyed singing. As a child she sang in church and later formed several vocal groups and ran several chapters of the Sweet Adalines. Her love of music led her to the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music where she was trained as a docent and has been active as a tour guide...
Bob Kranendonk sang for the choral group, the Pennsylvanians led by Fred Waring. Bob’s father also sang for the group and in fact together both men had a hit and appeared on the cover of the sheet music for the song “The Happy Wanderer.” When not touring or recording with the group, Bob worked in...
Jerry Jackman is proud of the strong ties he has developed by providing choral and orchestral music to the LDS church in his native Utah. As a music publisher, Jerry has focused his efforts on the needs of the Mormon Church and Choirs. When Jerry began working in the music industry in the early...
Mark Cabaniss always wanted to be in the music business. As a music student graduate and composer he was given that chance while teaching college, when Brentwood Music had an opening. The Nashville-based company’s founder, Jim Van Hook, took Mark under his wing and provided him with guidance that...
Vernon Drane played several musical instruments growing up in Tennessee including the trumpet and saxophone. He later studied instrument repair and spent 68 years (!) working with the Amro Music Company in Memphis. Vernon was also a baritone singer who performed in two church choirs for over 60...
Ruth Sibley Bensinger wrote a song called “So Long Sweetheart” when she was a teenager. The song was about lovers split by war. Members of her musically inclined family thought the song was quite promising. Ruth decided to walk the song over to Fred Waring’s home, whom she had met once through...
Walter Ehret was the music arrangers’ equivalent to Mel Blanc – the man with a thousand voices. Walter was the man with a thousand pseudonyms. Under his various names, he arranged for most of the major publishers over a career that spanned over 50 years. His work was mostly centered around...
Bob McGrath, next to Elmo and Big Bird, may be the most familiar face on Sesame Street. Without question, he is one of the leaders in the promotion of music education and in recent years has played a key role in the expansion of NAMM programs around the country with the goal of promoting music...