Band and Orchestra
Pete Cumming began playing a King trombone as a student, never dreaming he would one day work for the company. Growing up outside of Cleveland, Ohio, not far from the King factory, Pete knew much about the famous instruments. After college he briefly worked in the field of Architecture. His...
David St John began his career in music retail in 1967 and since that time he has devoted his career to bringing music and music lessons to the lives of his customers. David worked for a few music stores in Southern California, staying decades at some stores, including Gard’s Music in Glendora. ...
Lauren Haas Amanfoh started answering phones at age three and began writing rental contracts at age 10. She grew up in a music store, and went on to receive her degree from Ohio State University. She professionally performs on the French horn at major venues such as Carnegie Hall, and is now the...
Nedra Pedersen grew up playing French horn and studying all areas of music. She landed a job in the publishing side of Disney and worked with Hal Leonard on several projects including The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. In the year 2000, she began working full time with her husband in...
John Pedersen, the founder of Pedersen's Band & Orchestra in Burbank, California, began his career with a small instrument repair shop. The store, which began in the early 1970s, continued to grow even during the 17 years he spent working for the Los Angeles Unified School District repairing...
Tristann Rieck’s first instrument was the song flute, which was an introduction to the band program in grade school, which she joined the very next year. She later took up the alto horn and still later the French horn, which has remained her main instrument. With her father operating the...
Donovan Bankhead has a true passion for the music! His early memories regarding musical instruments involved seeing his older sister’s guitar and flute and taking notice of them before he even played an instrument himself. That came when he was in school and asked to join the band, which he did...
Harry Voshell started playing the saxophone in the fourth grade and fell in love! His interest in music grew over the years as he served in the United States Navy, where he played in several bands during his three years in the service. During college he studied music with an idea of becoming a...
Michael Faltin wanted to discuss his views on customer service during his NAMM Oral History interview. The interview took place at the NAMM Show in 2016, when his store was awarded the “Best Customer Service” honor. Michael made the point that with such a large effort in marketing and social...
Leslie Faltin earned a degree the University of Arizona in chemistry with a minor in mathematics and physics. She was selling radiation therapy equipment in Bellflower, California with a career in science before her. That was, until she met Michael Faltin, who had just finished his degree in music...