Women in the Music Industry
Carol Holtz was hired by the Martin Band Instrument Company in Elkhart during World War II. She has many fond memories of working for the company and the family feeling it had. Speaking of family, Carol married the son of the president, Frederick Holtz (1885-1965) and enjoyed being a part of the...
Marilyn Foster supported her husband's idea to open a music store in her home state of Iowa. From the beginning, she looked after all of the books and accounting for the store. She enjoyed the work and especially enjoyed getting to work with her husband and now, daughter Christi, on a regular...
Christi Foster-Nunnally grew up in her parent's Iowa piano store and recalls with fondness getting paid a nickel to dust each piano. She became a buyer for a local chain department store and traveled frquently to New York for a few years until she decided she missed the music business. Christi...
Carma Lou Beck was an active musician and teacher when she began working in music retail in Iowa in the 1960s. She opened her own store in Cedar Rapids in 1967, after working for a few other stores, including one owned and operated by the Wurlitzer Company. By the time Carma Lou's House of Music...
Betty Kline was getting a little tired of running to town for band accessories when her husband, a music director, needed something for his students. What started out being a large box of accessories in her home developed into some of the key band and orchestra music stores in the Sacramento area...
Penny Kline grew up in the music business as her mother was the founder of Kline Music in Sacramento, California and her father was a band director in area schools. When her father needed musical accessories for his students he asked his wife to run downtown to the music store. After months of...
Bonnie Fitch has always considered herself a music teacher. After her time in the classroom, she formed her own music store in Las Vegas and tried to make every customer experience a learning opportunity. With passion and energy abounding, Bonnie has worked long and hard to serve not only her...
Alice Phillips met her future husband when she joined a band while in high school. Dave sought to learn about the technical side of the business while Alice developed a background in the business and accounting end of things. Together they made for a perfect team and had their sights on opening...
Debra Karlowitch likes to tell people that she started working at C.F. Martin & Company the same week Chris Martin joined full time! At the time of her NAMM Oral History interview in 2013 she was nearing her 40th year with the company. She might also tell you, with great pride, that because...
Ruth Kadison enjoyed her role as a NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music volunteer, and applied many of her talents and skills to the organization over the years. Her love of music goes back to her grandfather who printed sheet music in New York City during the golden era of Tin Pan Alley and...