Library - In Memoriam
Remembering oral history interviewees who have passed away.
Josephine Nadolny only had one job, working for Selmer Band Instruments. When she retired in 2000 she had worked there for 58 years!
Webb Phillips formed the Allied Piano Company outside of Philadelphia with the goal of filling a need.
Jacob Malta was an innovator in designing handbells and hand chimes. His approach to product development and engineering led to several important advancements in the tonal quality and manufacturing of handbells.
Robert Beals was just a young man when he first met Chick Evans. The two worked to perfect and promote Mr. Evan’s idea of a synthetic drumhead in the 1950s. Up until that time, drumheads were made from cow skin, which presented several problems.
Harry Begian was one of the most respected band directors in the United States. Serving at the high school and college levels for over 45 years, Dr. Begian conducted his first band while he was in his teens.
Geoff Brash was an iconic music retailer in Australia who became known around the world for his passion and his brilliant business knowledge. As the managing director of Brash Music, Geoff was a pioneer in multi-country trade and marketing.
Koob Veneman’s father started the first Veneman’s Music Store in Holland, an idea copied by Koob in Maryland in 1960. Koob, like his father, was a luthier who designed his own instruments.
Kees van Willigen opened a music shop in Holland in 1968. As an accordion player he specialized in the instrument and soon gained a world-wide reputation for his product line and customer service.
John Keal was one of the very few who attended the Conn band instrument repair school in Elkhart, enrolling in the school just after World War II. The program only lasted a few years, but it provided the passion he was missing as a salesman outside the music industry.
Professor Fritz Sennheiser was the head of an engineering team of German scientists assembled right after World War II to improve the function of the electronic microphone.