Pipe Organs
Russ Gazda recalls listening to his mother playing the Hawaiian Guitar as a child. He played the accordion and later was introduced to the Hammond B-3, thanks to recordings by his hero Booker T. Jones. Russ sought to play wherever he could and in his early days he performed in lounges in the...
Norman Cantrell attended the University of Oklahoma City where he studied music education. He soon realized his passion was not in teaching but rather in piano repair and tuning. As a teenager, he studied the craft for several years with a local technician, which included installing pipe organs,...
Fumio Mieda was hired by the founder of KORG, Tsutomu Katoh, back in 1967. Mieda-san began working on a number of innovations as he hoped to improve the function of electronic organs. The results of his efforts led to a number of advances for the emerging synthesizer. Just prior to this, Mr. Mieda...
Glen Kersten and his wife were just married when they rented a small house that turned out to be owned by Frank Lohnes. Mr. Lohnes also owned a music store called Dearborn Piano & Organ. Glen joined the sales team and was introduced to the Rodgers Organ, an instrument he would be connected with...
Dan Miller has always felt a great sense of pride by providing the music people have worshiped to in the many churches he has performed in over the years. He took piano lessons as a child and later discovered the joy playing the organ brought to him. He attended Moody Bible College and served as...
Bill Hesterman has always been fascinated by the pipe organ. He studied piano and organ as a child, and with the good fortune that one of his teachers was an organist for the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, young Bill was exposed to extravagant organs at a young age. With his technical...
Frederick Swann is one of the most famous organists of the last 50 years due to his many publications, recitals, church performances and his long run on the television program The Hour of Power. His career began when he was just 10 years old and he was asked to fill in for the organist at his...
John Green began installing pipe organs when he was still in school and fell in love with not only the technical process but in the reaction of the customers. He worked in a music store in Newport Beach, California before being hired by Rodgers Musical Instrument Company in 1976. He was with the...
Dan Dugan is a pro lighting and pro audio engineer who invented an automixer that he first presented at AES in 1974. With a rich background in theater, both in lighting and sound, Dan created several automations that improved the quality and efficiency of production processes. His innovations were...
Pat Bovenizer, the current Vice President of Peterson Electro-Musical Products, Inc., gives credit to some “Irish Luck” as he discusses his growth with the company. Beginning part-time work at age 16 while continuing his high school education. Pat soon became submersed in sales and trade shows;...