Music Education
Michael Cooney taught music in the public schools in Massachusetts for over 25 years. During the time of his teaching he also established a high-end flute company in the early 1970s called Northeast Winds. Over the years the company built a worldwide reputation for quality of product with a special...
Delores Rhoads began teaching music in 1939. Seventy years later when she was interviewed by NAMM, she was still teaching. After World War II Delores and her husband opened a small teaching studio and retail shop in North Hollywood, California, called Musonia. Over the decades she taught thousands...
Ron Raup was among the first commercial members to serve on the NAMM Board. His long career in the industry has been highlighted by his incredible vision and marketing skills for the MakeMusic company. MakeMusic, Inc. is a world leader in software and systems for music educators and musicians....
Gary Ingle is the CEO of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA). As a music educator, Gary sought to bring teachers together in ways that could benefit the profession as well as the school programs they were supporting. Under his direction, the MTNA has expanded to include programs around...
Mike Rosen is a professor of percussion at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, Ohio. Over the years Mike has been very active with the Percussive Arts Society and has contributed regularly to the organization’s newsletter. Mike was the principal percussionist with the Milwaukee Symphony...
Martha Hilley was a young piano teacher in the 1960s when she had the idea of expanding her ideas of group lessons. She contacted the Wurlitzer Company, well known for their dedication to music education. The company was so impressed by her concepts that they hired her as an educational advisor....
Robert Averwater’s father, M. J. Averwater taught music, wrote a method book and opened up Amro Music in Memphis, TN, with a fellow music teacher. Robert recalled some of the challenges of the store in the early days after World War II. The inventory needed to be reestablished as instruments and...
Dale Beacock grew up with a love of band music. After college he was hired as a band director and he felt as if his dreams had come true. He worked hard to design methods of teaching that brought out the best in his students, and he always sought ways of improving his bands. Over the years he felt...
Don Canedy was a beloved band director and professor at Southern Illinois University before being hired by the Roger’s Drum Company in 1961. Don played drums beginning at the age of 10 and was a perfect fit for the company’s Educational Director. Just prior to his job at Roger’s, which at the time...
Frank Bilz applied his passion for music into the expansion of the Markneukirchen Germany music school programs entitled Musicon Valley. As Marketing Director of the school, which is located in the music-rich village where musical instruments have been handcrafted for hundreds of years, Frank has...