Music Manufacturing
Ken Oda was hired by Yamaha in 1967 to run their retail store in San Francisco, California. He continued to work for the company until his retirement at which point he joined Fender Musical Instruments. While at Yamaha he met and worked with Bill Schultz who later hired Ken to help grow the Asian...
Sanjiro Kawamorita was drafted into the Japanese Army during World War II. He served under Shigeru Kawai who hired Kawamorita-San and other soldiers from his unit after the war. He remained with the piano manufacturer, based in Hamamatsu Japan until his retirement for a total of 53 years! Before...
Mitsuo Kasahara served as the first president of Yamaha Corporation of America after setting up the branch office in Southern California in 1961. Three years earlier he established the first Yamaha office in Mexico as well! These were the first branches in North America, which led to a period of...
Adrian Emsley is the Technical Director at Orange Amps in London. The company’s founder, Cliff Cooper, hired Adrian to lead the teams that created several key products for Orange including the RockerVerb, the OR-50 and the AD series, which was introduced in 1998. Over the years, Adrian has become...
Alun Hughes grew up in Wales, which has a very much musical community, which he became very active and interested. Playing saxophone, flute and clarinet, Alun realized at an early age that he wanted to have a career in the music industry. His first job within the industry was in the factory of...
Stephen Wick, whose father is a well-regarded classical musician, grew up in a very musical home. What he discovered as a child that remains to this very day is that his father’s passion for music, transferred nicely over to him. Together they work in the company his father, Denis, established to...
Leslie East studied musicology at King’s College in London and followed with a Master in Musical Analysis. He put his education to use right away as he became teacher and began working as a musical journalist. After some time as an educator, he became the Director of Music at the Guildhall School...
Anthony Macari is the Managing Director of the music shop in London, England named by his father. Macari’s Musical Instruments first opened in 1958 and was established by Joe and Larry Macari. Anthony’s father, Joe, played a key role in the growth of the shop, which today has two locations (one...
Dan Rodowicz was encouraged at an early age to play music. His parents arranged piano lessons, which led to trombone, which was the instrument of his beloved uncle. Dan was influenced by the music around him growing up in Philadelphia, which inspired him to play the organ. In 1976 he won a local...
Lori Frazer’s mother taught piano and organ, which was the foundation for her own passion for music. When Lori was a small child, her mother purchased a piano for the home, which later would serve Lori for her own training. Like many people in Northern California in the 1950s and 60s, Lori and...