Pianos
Ben McKlveen had a very colorful life as a service man during World War II and a piano technician who cared for the instruments of many top performers and orchestras. He played oboe in the military band before serving in George Patton’s Third Army and traveled straight across Germany with Patton....
Craig Smith began piano lessons at the age seven and by the time he was twelve, was fascinated with the sounds of the home organ. He started demonstrating organs for Karnes Music at thirteen and worked there part-time through high school. During his college years, Craig continued to work part-time...
Ted Sambell was born in London, England and made his living as a piano technician in London, and Ontario, Canada. With poor eyesight Ted was often told he was limited in his career choices, but has said many times that being a piano technician was the ideal job for him and one he has enjoyed for...
Ed Blasco was one of the best known organ salesmen in Kansas City during the 1970s. He worked for Sherman Clay, Jenkins Music and even ran his own store, Ed Blasco’s Conn Organ Center in the mid 1970s. Ed’s passion for the organ was the foundation of his selling and he never lost sight of the...
Taylor Mackinnon grew up in a very musical family and his father played a key role in introducing Taylor to a variety of instrumental music. Taylor was a choral music major and earned a masters degree in music before teaching for nearly a decade. In 1974 he moved to Oregon where he began working as...
Roger Willson takes great pride in his long association with the Bluthner Piano Company. The association extends to the Bluthner family who entrusted Roger with the position of Managing Director of the Bluthner UK store. During his career in the piano industry, Roger has also served on the boards...
Wally Evans grew up in Wales with music all around him. He played piano and sang in church. He later learned to play the guitar and worked in several bands at night and worked in a power plant by day. For two years he studied electronic musical instrument technology in London before being hired by...
Ulrich Sauter grew up in the middle of the Sauter Piano Company, as his great grandfather formed the factory in Spaichingen, Germany. In fact his family lived in a small house surrounded by piano factory buildings on all four sides. As he puts it, there was no other job he ever thought about doing...
Frantisek Nemecek was born and raised in Czechoslovakia where he studied advertising and helped the more than 70 instrument makers in the area to sell their products. Frantisek began by exporting a large number of the instruments outside the area and into the Soviet Union, where the demand for hand...
Burkhard Stein grew up in a music retail family, which focused on selling pianos in Marburg, Germany. After school he wanted to learn about the manufacturing of pianos and began working for the Grotrian Piano Company. The company began in 1835 when Friedrich Grotrian opened his own factory after...