Pandemic
Sonja Lynne grew up in her mother’s music studio and found her voice as a singer. Sonja studied opera and can still be heard singing in her church. She had a few jobs, including as a school teacher, before answering an advertisement for Jacobs Music in Philadelphia. She joined the sales team there...
Debra Kolacny began playing the organ at the age of eight, not knowing a life of music was ahead of her. She joined her junior high school band as a percussionist and in high school focused on theater arts, where she met her future husband, David. His grandfather started Kolacny Music in Denver,...
Saul Rosenthal has been driven by two ideals, equal rights for all people and supporting music and music makers whenever possible! After earning his Ph.D., Saul taught sociology at the college level and proudly worked for the Anti-Defamation League for 15 years. He later served on the board of the...
Derek Richard has always appreciated the experience he had in college as a pianist accompaniment to singers and choir. Those were meaningful opportunities for him to learn in detail the importance of how musical notation is laid out on a page. Not all musical notation is the same and Derek has...
Heath Mathews is the Senior Vice President of Content & Licensing for Peaksware Music, which includes MakeMusic and Alfred Music. Heath joined MakeMusic in 2007 with a focus on developing the repertoire for the SmartMusic platform. Heath takes great pride in his contributions to the platform,...
Patrick Jacobson, along with his friends and fellow Roper Music employees Seth Strickland and Kris Kjeldgaard, became owners of the store in 2019. Their mentor and teacher, John Handley, who purchased the store from Mr. Roper, taught all three of them the fine art of instrument repair and wanted...
Kris Kjeldgaard finished her degree with a music major and a minor in business and went job seeking. She was not sure what the direction of her career would take and in fact, looking back, did not see what was to come. She interviewed for a job at Roper Music and soon was hired. She tried her hand...
Jeff Bertrand is the president of the music company his parents started back in 1983. His father, John Sr., a former band director wanted to provide much-needed support and supplies to schools in his local area, which was San Bernadino, California. Jeff began working in the store cleaning clarinets...
Chris Tso is a perfect example of the benefits the music products industry receives when a musician enters it's world. Chris grew up blocks away from the Apollo Theater and the Cotton Club in New York, and absorbed the rich history and diverse cultures that were blended into the music around him....
Rich Formidoni cut his teeth in the industry as a salesman in the keyboard division of Sam Ash Music in Queens, New York. That experience led to his move to Korg in 2005 as a product specialist. The move was the perfect fit for Rich who was then tasked with producing demo videos, artist relations...