Women in the Music Industry
Claudia Keith and her husband, Joe, are, together, one of the legendary couples of the print music business in the United States. As owners of the Music Mart in Albuquerque, NM, the Keiths have been partners in marriage and business, and pioneers in the Retail Print Music Dealers Association (RPMDA...
Diane Moore witnessed the need for a store that was dedicated to sheet music and the needs of local music teachers. After investigating the idea she decided to open her own retail store there in Anchorage, Alaska. The Keyboard Cache has enjoyed the support of both school and private teachers. It...
Janet Faulhaber has always had a special interest in the sheet music department of the Ward-Brodt Music Company in Wisconsin. Janet and her husband purchased the store and have expanded the product line and involvement in community music programs for several decades. When their son, Mick, returned...
Betty Gore, along with her husband, established Pender’s Music Company in Texas. The retail store is only one part of the company, as her husband Harold sought to find and publish every march and song by John Phillip Sousa. Betty played a key role in the large endeavor by researching the songs and...
Janet Deering has become the darling of the banjo industry as co-founder of the Deering Banjo Company. Along with her husband Greg, she has brought the banjo back to its popular roots with the pride of an American-made instrument. Although the instrument was not originated in the United States it...
Judith Delgado is the daughter of former NAMM President James Kleeman. Known around the NAMM building as the Professor, Jim was a strong leader who helped establish the Professional Development department at NAMM and who helped create NAMM University, a program that provides training classes for...
Sylvia Perry and her late husband, Mack, teamed up in 1945 to establish Peripole, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Perry taught music and worked to innovate and manufacture instruments for the growth and development of music education from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. In 1986, the Music Industry Council...
Millie Swanson was known as “The Sweetheart of Wurlitzer.” She joined the company in 1931 as an office clerk while still in high school. Over the years, as Wurlitzer grew into the largest musical instrument maker in the world, Millie was promoted to assistant to Mr. Wurlitzer and served in that...
Anna Sipavich was a real life Rosie the Riveter with ties to the music products industry. She was a factory worker at the Wurlitzer Company in DeKalb, IL, when the Second World War broke out. As talk of lay-offs floated around the company in the early days of the war, a government job soon allowed...
Dorothy Dunkley co-founded Dunkley Music Stores in Boise, Idaho, with her husband Bill. She took over the store while Bill was on the road selling pianos door to door in the early years of the store. The Dunkley’s were widely known in the industry as great advocates of music making. Along with a...