Music Manufacturing
Eileen Kilday and her husband worked hard to re-build an old piano bench making company, which they renamed GRK. This project for the Kilday’s began in 1988 with the purchase of the old company and since that time both have been regular exhibitors at the NAMM Show as well as at other industry...
Tony Acosta had a dream to make the world’s finest classical guitar strings. He began working nights to perfect his product and build relationships within the industry and slowly gathered the needed equipment. Several years later, when he quit his day job working for an airline, his friends...
John Bowen was an engineer at Sequential Circuits during the early days of the synthesizer boom of the late 1970s. John worked with founder Dave Smith, who later went on to develop the Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) specifications. John helped write the MIDI code and went on to design...
Bill Wellborn was honored with the National Piano Traveler’s Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 for his dedication to the industry. As a piano salesman, Bill has traveled the country for a number of different piano manufacturers such as PA Stark, Story & Clark and Young Chang. His...
Vince Grantano was a fixture among traveling piano representatives. He traveled the entire United States for several companies over the years to bring new products to retailers. His most notable job was with the Winter Piano Company where he worked for several decades. Vince joined the National...
Ursula Seiler is president of the piano company formed by her late husband’s family. The Seiler Piano Company of Kitzinger, Germany has an extensive history of producing well-respected and innovative products. The family traditions continue within the company with Ursula’s daughter, Manuella,...
Gary Kilday took a chance on an old piano bench maker in 1988 that had fallen on hard times. Since that time the company, renamed GRK, has kept the tradition of customer service and quality product that traces back to the original business, the Manual Arts Furniture Corporation formed in 1915....
John Morgan was a band instrument sales rep who knew how to talk to school band directors. After all, he had been a director for years and once he entered the music products industry, it seemed like a perfect fit. He was still a teacher as he recalled, and he was still encouraging students to play...
Jim Connors joined Norlin Corp. originally as the head of the Lowery Organ factories. With his strong background in manufacturing and process control, Jim was able to keep up with the 25% growth the company was experiencing each year. Under Jim’s watch, the company created a new Lowery factory in...
Roger Cox began his career at Ampeg in Linden, NJ. At Ampeg he served as Vice President of Operations responsible for Quality, Manufacturing, Service, and Research and Development. During his time at Ampeg, Roger fathered the Ampeg SVT which is still in production. After two years at Altec Lansing...