Aeolian Piano Company
Paul Monachino grew up in the Rochester, New York area during the big band era. He played trumpet and set out to see as many of the dance bands as he could including his hero Harry James. After serving during World War II, Paul was hired by the American Piano Company in 1946, the same year he was...
Dave Campbell grew up in a household full of music! Both of his grandmothers were piano teachers and his father was a professional piano player. With such a strong background in music it was no surprise that Dave became a professional musician and made it his career until his early 30s. Dave also...
Bob Heller’s grandfather began working in the music industry as a piano manufacturer in New York. Along with two partners, his grandfather formed the Winter Piano Company, which under the leadership of Bob’s father, branched out to include other brands such as Aeolian Pianos. Bob worked alongside...
Art Ritchie grew up in East Rochester, New York in the same part of town that Elmer Brooks grew up. Elmer would later hire Art becoming one of his mentors in the music industry. After serving in the military, Art returned to East Rochester in 1960 and joined the sales team at Aeolian Piano Company...
Glenn Howard was the first salesman hired by the Winter Piano Company following World War II. Raised in Marshalltown, Iowa, Glen was the son of a real estate broker who fell on hard times during the Great Depression. Glen emerged from those difficult years with a strong understanding of the value...
Peter Perez represents a lot of musical history. A former head of CG Conn and CBS Musical Instruments, Peter went on to become the President of Steinway & Sons. His career also included the purchasing of Aeolian Pianos in Memphis and Lyon & Healy in Chicago while he was working for CBS....
Arthur Linter had many stories to share, like the one about his real birthday. “My mother told me, ‘Your birthday is March 14, 1913, but it says April 5 on your birth certificate because the doctor put it in his pocket and carried it around for a few days before he filed it.’”
He was a street wise...
Henry Heller recalled with detail his father’s idea of moving the Aeolian Piano Company’s manufacturing plant from New York to Memphis. During the months of the move in the early 1950s, his father suffered a heart attack and died. It was up to Henry not only to take over the project of moving the...
Jack Martin was a leading piano sales rep for Wurlitzer from 1959 until 1963. Although he spent most of his career in the music industry it was those four years that Jack cherishes the most. During the early part of his career with Wurlitzer, Jack took part in the training classes that Wurlitzer...
Jack Javens loved the piano business and became one of the industry’s quintessential salesmen. He worked for the Aeolian Piano Company out of East Rochester New York beginning in the 1950s and stayed for 26 years. He witnessed the famous merger between Aeolian and the Winter Piano Company in the...