Instrument Strings
Don Hilsberg fell in love with the harp when he was in the third grade and was taken to the symphony. His parents could not afford a harp, so young Don began taking organ and piano lessons. Midway into college at the University of Denver, Don was given the chance to play the harp and it was all he...
Pablo Ortega was interviewed during the Summer NAMM Show in 2021, just as Magma Strings was launching their American distribution branch. The show was both Pablo’s first as well as the first NAMM show in 18 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Being a longtime friend of Sebastian, the son of the...
Roberto Giannini is part of the third generation running Giannini Musical Instruments alongside his brother, Flavio. Their company has thrived on being innovative and working around issues. During WWII when supplies were cut off, they began making their own strings and then between the 1960-1990s...
Flavio Giannini is part of the third generation running Giannini Musical Instruments alongside his brother, Roberto. One of their most well-known designs is the Craviola, which is designed to be a smaller and therefor more comfortable instrument to play. As they introduce new products, they strive...
Cyril Maillot joined the SAVAREZ String Company in 1994 with a focus on updating the company’s computer system. He has held several positions over the years but now as CEO his main focus is on marketing their brand. Cyril has realized that the history of the company is very important to their...
Bernard Maillot’s grandfather was a musician and worked at the SAVAREZ String Company, as did his father after him. Bernard’s father saw the potential of a new market for strings and designed a series of packaging aimed to the jazz musicians of the 1930s and 40s. Bernard studied accounting in...
Mary Faith Rhoads Lewis grew up on a farm outside of Allentown, Pennsylvania, where her mother played the piano and encouraged her children to play an instrument. Mary Faith began playing the violin at the age of eight and soon discovered she had a love of folk music. She built her own Mountain...
Mark Dronge was the President of DR Strings and a veteran of the music products industry, having been involved since he was four years old in his father’s retail store! Mark recalled the accordion boom of the 1940s in his father’s store, which was sold in 1948. The money his father made in...
Peter D’Addario is proud of his family’s long association with the music industry. In fact, his family’s string making goes back to the seventeenth century. Peter recalls going to the warehouse as a kid and helping with the shipping of musical accessories. His father, Richard, is the brother of...
Arnold Davidson was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa where he began playing in area bands. He was given the opportunity to distribute the strings he special ordered from England and found himself in the music products business. He later opened his own wholesale firm, based largely on...