Music Wholesale-Distribution
Jerry Proctor worked for the Alvarez Guitar brand, owned by St. Louis Music, almost from the very beginning of that product. St. Louis Music owner, Gene Kornblum, was looking to create a new acoustic guitar line for his company to supply its dealers when he decided to create his own. After...
Mark Ragin jumped from working at the retail level of a music store into wholesale when he realized there was a real need for a band instrument and accessory distributor geared toward the specific needs of music stores that calls on band directors. Mark established U. S. Band and Orchestra...
Jim Eaton became a professional cellist and played often with his brother. He played in several orchestras and symphonies as well as small groups. Jim’s passion and knowledge of string instruments made him the perfect buyer for St. Louis Music. His role within the company expanded over the years,...
Stan Morgan became the president of St. Louis Music after Mark Ragin purchased the company from LOUD Technologies in 2008. The new St. Louis Music retained its strong combo products for its dealers as in the past, along with band and orchestra products thanks to Mr. Ragin's own U. S. Band and...
Won Jung Kim is the president of Shimro Musical Instruments Company in Seoul, South Korea. The company is a leader in manufacturing all levels of bowed instruments and in recent years has become a distributor in South Korea, carrying her brands as well as those supplied by the D’Addario & Co....
Gary Bennett entered the music products industry in 1964 working for Chesbro Music in Idaho. At the time of his NAMM Oral History interview, taped during the NAMM Show in January 2012, Gary was still proudly working for Chesbro. During the 1970s Gary played a vital role in their becoming the...
Lou Capece began selling musical products in the 1960s and has since become one of the industry’s largest musical instrument wholesale distributors. One of the successes of the company has been the development of their self-branded instruments with names well known around the world today, such as...
Toyomasa Namikawa was the founder and chairman of the board for the Japan music publisher Teine Corp., which was named after his initials. He dedicated his life to providing students and teachers with band instrument publications throughout Japan. While attending the Midwest Band Clinics in the...
Toyoshi Namikawa grew up in the music publishing business because his father was the founder of the Teine Corporation. Located in Tokyo Japan, Teine has played an important role in the Japanese industry, providing exclusive distribution of publications from C. Barnhouse and Neil Kjos. Following in...
Frank Lee’s parents established Tom Lee Music Company in Hong Kong to bring quality musical instruments to their customers. As President of the company, Frank has focused on those original goals and has followed his parents lead to serve their customers. Having been brought up in the business,...