Band and Orchestra
Willie Smith was trained on instrument repairs on the plant floor of the Conn-Selmer factory in Elkhart over 30 years ago. He began working in the music industry with the Vincent Bach Company in the 1970s and remained with the company when it was sold to Selmer and again in the early 2000s when it...
Kent Hocker earned a music degree in performance at Indiana University before he began working in the music industry. He joined the Selmer Company of Elkhart in 1977 as a trumpet tester. Over the years Kent has played a role in the training of other testers, a position he has enjoyed. He...
John Foley grew up in Elkhart, Indiana and began working in the Selmer factory before graduating high school. He stayed on with the company, working in the Bach department with a focus on trumpet assembly. Over the years John has taken on the role of teaching the craft to new employees, a part of...
Roger Zehr worked as a trumpet tester for the Vincent Bach brands of horns, beginning when the company was on its own and later when it was purchased by Selmer and when it merged to become Conn-Selmer in 2003. Bob Hodges was also a trumpet tester for the company who served as Roger’s mentor and...
Joe Cook began working in the music products industry with Selmer in 1966 with a focus on the saxophone products. He joined the Gemeinhart Flute Company in 1986 and remained with the famed Elkhart, Indiana firm until the time of his mini interview in 2011. While working with the Selmer Company,...
Richard Sigman was trained on instrument repairs on the plant floor of the Conn-Selmer factory in Elkhart nearly 40 years ago. He began working in the music industry with the Vincent Bach Company in the 1970s and remained with the company when it was sold to Selmer and again in the early 2000s...
Dennis Ward takes great pride in the work he does making musical instruments! He began working in the music industry with Vincent Bach in the 1970s and remained with the company in the early 2000s when it merged to become Conn-Selmer. In recent years Dennis manages the machines which make parts...
Mike Neely is a supervisor on the plant floor for the Conn-Selmer factory in Elkhart, Indiana, the very factory he began working in nearly 40 years before. He began working in the music industry with Selmer in the 1970s and remained with the company in the early 2000s when it merged with its...
Brad Milliken began working in the music industry with the Vincent Bach Company and stayed with the company when it merged with Selmer and again with Conn. Brad’s positions within the factory has always been based on handcraftsmanship. While he was working in the industry during the early days of...
Virgil Storm was trained on instrument repairs on the plant floor of the Conn-Selmer factory in Elkhart over 30 years ago. He began working in the music industry with the Vincent Bach Company in the 1970s and, like many of his co-workers in the factory, remained with the company when it was sold...