Music Advocacy
Rick Young has spent over 20 years with Yamaha making several important contributions to the Pro Audio Division and Band Instrument Division. Rick has also played a vital role in the Music Achievement Council providing his background and passion for music to enhance successful programs and...
LaRoy Edwards was the celebrated piano technician who began his long association with Yamaha back in 1961, the year before the company officially entered the United States market. Along the way he helped create the bond assurance program for retailers to track customer satisfaction, and the Little...
Dee Vinton was known as Dancin’ Dee around the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music where she was a noted docent since the early 2000’s. Dee was fond of telling her tour groups that her mother was a dime-a-dance girl in the heyday of the 1920’s dance craze. After retiring from a successful...
Don Murphy joined the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music volunteer team as a retiree in 2003 and soon became one of the museum’s most requested docents. Don pioneered the community outreach programs with a series of speaker presentations, which encouraged a host of visitors, several of which...
Bob Hale had a long and successful career as an engineer and was able to devote his retirement time to his passion for music as a docent at the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, CA. Bob soon became the museum expert on the electronic music displays and began training new...
Peter Giles, the founder and president of Giles Communications, celebrated 20 years in business at the 2007 NAMM Show. During his interview, Peter proudly recalled his work in promoting the benefits of music making. Over the years, he has worked closely with many industry companies. For 15 years...
Bob McGrath, next to Elmo and Big Bird, may be the most familiar face on Sesame Street. Without question, he is one of the leaders in the promotion of music education and in recent years has played a key role in the expansion of NAMM programs around the country with the goal of promoting music...
Marilea Zajec and her husband Victor became the historians for the Midwest Band Clinic and over the years collected and wrote of the importance of the annual events impact on music education around the world. Victor attended the first program in 1946 and Marilea’s first Midwest was as a performer...
Takehiko Akaboshi, the legendary Japanese music therapist and founder of the world renowned Japan Music Volunteer Association, began his career as a popular singer who recorded traditional and new folk songs as early as the 1950s. While singing around the country he began seeing the benefits of...
Masamitsu Yamano’s grandfather opened up a small music stop in the heart of Ginza –the shopping area of Tokyo, Japan. The year was 1892. The retailer, which started out as a small keyboard dealer, has expanded over the years to include over 50 retail stores in Japan. Mr. Yamano’s vision for the...