Music Advocacy
Max Cooke was an Australian classically trained pianist and professor who wrote a series of method books to assist his students. He began teaching piano students at the University of Melbourne in 1952. Along the way, he developed a teaching style based on his teachers and ideas he gathered about...
Manuel Delgado is proudly following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather as a luthier of musical instruments. His grandfather began making classical guitars in 1928 and since that time the family has been involved with making over 40 different stringed instruments. Manuel builds several...
Laura Whitmore’s passion for music began at a young age, learning to play guitar and writing songs as a teenager. She attended Hofstra University where she earned a B.S. in Music Merchandising and an MBA in Marketing. Laura worked for CBS Records and Korg, where she rose through the ranks of...
Jake Connolly has fond memories of working with his father, who became his mentor in life and the music business. Together, father and son grew their string distribution company from a short list of products to a strong offering based on several product lines. The relationships they built years ago...
Christie Z is an arts advocate who, lucky for each of us, focused on encouraging young artists and musicians in the Bronx, New York. She organized park concerts and later DJ battles that have been inspirational for countless young performers. Along the way, Christie has also worked to preserve the...
Daniel Ho happily participated in the ukulele boom of the early 2000s. He grew up playing Hawaiian music and studied composition at the Grove School of Music. When given the change to help design a ukulele with luthier Pepe Romero, Daniel proudly added his thoughts and ideas to the design and...
Bernie Williams is the former professional baseball player whose passion for music making led him to a role as a music advocate. Being a musician since he was a kid, Bernie perused a successful career as a baseball player for 16 years before gaining his degree in music at the Manhattan School of...
Jack Hill was introduced to music at a very young age as his uncle was a professional musician. Jack started taking guitar lessons at eight years old, which he paid for himself with the money he made from his paper route. He started playing with older musicians and got quite a few gigs early on. At...
Barbara Honig found out about the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music when she joined their New Horizons band - a band that offers learning new instruments and playing in a concert band setting to adults. After playing some percussion in the band, and then switching to the clarinet, Barbara...
Jacinta Brunkala grew up taking piano lessons, without even owning a piano. She would use a friend’s piano when she could, but would often pretend with a set of keys she made out of cardboard to practice. When her parents purchased an upright piano a few years later, Jacinta was hooked to the sound...