Women in the Music Industry
Petra Woodfull-Harris recalls taking lessons on the recorder at the age of six, followed by the piano three years later. She enjoyed the idea of improving her skills and of expressing herself through music, which is a driving force in her passion today. As the sales and marketing manager for...
Tristann Rieck’s first instrument was the song flute, which was an introduction to the band program in grade school, which she joined the very next year. She later took up the alto horn and still later the French horn, which has remained her main instrument. With her father operating the...
Shelley Wilson and her husband, Greg Murdaugh, opened the Piano Craft store in 1999. The store, which is located in Springfield MO, has a family feel whenever you visit, which may be due in large part to the mom and pop approach Greg and Shelley have towards their customers and staff. Shelley...
Sheilah McDowell is a saleswoman and Lowrey class instructor at Piano Craft in Springfield, Missouri. Her passion for the industry goes back to the days she first met her husband, Jim McDowell, and worked in his family's music store in St. Louis. She traveled the country with Fred Waring playing...
Ann Patrick Green is the founder of Patrick Music School in Fullerton, California and the music teacher who provided training lessons during the NAMM Shows. Her passion has always been centered around teaching, so when she had the opportunity to open a music school she jumped at the chance. For...
Sara Faust may be the only music retailer who has won both the Chopin Piano Competition's first prize as well as the Concert Artists Guild's first place award! In 1996, after her career as a professional classical pianist, Sara and her husband formed Faust Harrison Pianos in New York. In addition...
Pauline Oliveros pioneered composing music using electronic instruments. She recorded both with the Moog and Buchla synthesizers as well as the Expanded Instrument System, an electronic signal processing unit she designed. She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center in the...
Donna Henson holds the unique distinction of being a docent for the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music as well as a former employee of NAMM. The headquarters for NAMM in Carlsbad, California is also the location for the Museum of Making Music, which was opened to the public in 2000. Donna...
Gail Hackinson worked with Charlie Hansen, the iconic music publisher in New York City. It was at Hansen Music Publishing Company where she met her future husband, Frank Hackinson. Together the couple established FJH Music Company in 1988, which has also involved their children Kevin, Kyle, and...
Kathy Fernandes was lucky enough to have an inspiring flute teacher while in high school that helped encourage and foster Kathy’s interest in music. In fact, Kathy pursued a career as a school music teacher thanks to those teachers she learned from. While in graduate school, she was hired as a...