Band and Orchestra
Joel Menchey is the president of Menchey Music Service, a Hanover, PA based retail store established by his grandfather in 1936. Joel is also very active within the industry serving on boards and committees for such organizations as NASMD, NAMM and RPMDA. Joel, himself a music maker, can be heard...
Kenny O’Brien is the president of Music & Arts, a retail store chain that his father, Ken O’Brian, established. Kenny oversees the stores, which focuses on school music and print and has locations in 18 states including Arizona to Delaware to Ohio and Texas. Kenny is proud that he continues, as...
John McCrea was born and raised in Billings, Montana, where he first discovered his passion for music. He played the clarinet and was inspired by his band director to teach music in public schools, which John did for 35 years. By the time he retired from teaching, he and his family were living in...
Mimi Piper was looking for a part time job after raising her three boys when a neighbor told her of an opening at Rico Reeds in Los Angeles. She joined the company as an assistant in 1974 and remained with the company until it was sold in 2005. During her career with the company she worked...
Leon Pascucci grew up in the music industry as his father was the president of Leblanc in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Leon remembers well the times he spent with Mr. Leblanc in France and the many company workers he felt were part of his family. Leon’s father Vito slowly exposed Leon to all areas of the...
Hidesato Shiino’s great-grandfather formed a music business in Japan, which gave young Shiino-san a strong background in the industry. He also had a passion for playing musical instruments, which he and others in his country were unable to obtain in the years following World War II. Over time he...
Dennis Bamber helped pioneer mail order catalogs for musical products beginning in the 1970s. After opening a small woodwind store in South Bend, Indiana in 1978, Dennis noticed that many of his customers were traveling 5 and 6 hours to his store. While he expanded the size of the store he also...
Marcia Neel began her career as a band director in a public high school. After a successful teaching career, she turned her focus on advancing music education within the American educational system. She became president of the Music Education Consultants, Inc, located in Las Vegas, NV. There she...
Dennis Guillaume began his career in the music industry in piano retail in the late 70's, a position he feels very much assisted him when he worked for Kimball Pianos throughout the 1980's. During this time the piano industry was experiencing steady decline. In an effort to reverse the trends,...
Jim DePriest has been teaching for 28 years, He has taught students at Stuart-Menlo Community Schools, West Burlington Independent Schools, Notre Dame Catholic Schools, and Mt. Pleasant Community School Districts. He joined the Mt. Pleasant District in 1992 where he has been the high school band...