Washington State
Keith Dwiggins and his wife Michelle both work for Beacock Music in Vancouver, Washington. The store has always had that family feeling, being established by the husband and wife team of Dale and Susan Beacock, and now being operated by their children Russ and Gayle. Keith and Michelle just add the...
Ryan Smith remembers with pride the day in the 5th grade when he joined the school band playing drums. That special feeling of making music and being a part of something bigger than himself has stayed with him. In fact, as a employee at Beacock Music in Vancouver, Washington, he is able to relive...
Philip Hodapp holds the unique position of providing hands-on support to dozens of school band directors as the director of school services for Beacock Music! As a lifelong musician, he started playing clarinet for his school band in the fifth grade. Philip is dedicated to the serving the needs of...
Normalu Cooper was inspired by her piano teachers as a young girl so she eventually began providing lessons in her father’s piano store when she was a teenager. Like her father, Normalu went on to have a long career in piano retail in Washington and, also like her father, she played the organ for...
Sonny Wittkopp studied business in college and landed a job as a bookkeeper for a local music store in Washington state. This experience generated a great passion for the music industry which resulted in Sonny opening the Hammond Organ Studios of Spokane in 1962. The store grew along with the home...
Kevin Prosser took over the piano and organ store his parents established in the mid-1980s. His brother later came into the business, which had several locations throughout Washington State. In the late 1990s, Kevin opened a store in Palm Springs and ran it for several years. During that same time...
Al Green is the store manager for the Music Man retail store in Anchorage, Alaska. Over his career Al has managed several stores including two in Washington State, however, none have compared to his experience in Alaska. Al was hired by the owner and son of the founder, Karl Pasch, whose father...
Mike Kay runs the pro audio department for Ted Brown Music in Tacoma, Washington. Beginning in 1984, Mike brought his lifelong love of music and audio to the company, which had two locations at the time. Not only did Mike take part in growing the audio product lines, he took part in the expansion...
Sharon Brown was a teenager when she first began working for Ted Brown Music. While in high school she met and began dating the founder’s son, Warren. Soon she discovered she had a real love for both Warren and the music business. She ran the record department and after marrying Warren, she...
Donn Bennett had the happy "accident" of falling into the retail music business. As a young drummer he had to pay for his own lessons, which led to him teaching drums to some of his friends in the neighborhood. When he gained a full schedule of students it led to having accessories and instruments...