Oral History - all
Karen Feltz is one of the voices of Conn-Selmer as she serves in the customer service department. She joined Selmer right out of high school and has worked for the company for over 40 years. Music dealers around the world know Karen for her dedication to finding answers to their questions and for... more
Jeff Crume began his career in the music industry with the Armstrong Flute Company, which was later purchased by UMI and then Selmer. In 2003 Selmer merged with Conn, allowing Jeff to remain with the same company for over 30 years! He has worked many of the positions within the factory and has... more
John Crise began his career in the music industry with Selmer in 1975. He has focused his work on the oboe, clarinet and bassoon in the years before the CNC machines came to the company. Even after that time John has used his skills as a craftsman to provide the detail work and adjustments... more
John Creachbaum began his career in the music industry with Coffman Music in Ohio before he joined the Selmer Company in Elkhart, Indiana in 1984. He studied music education in college and trained to be a band director before working for the music store for eight years. His background as both an... more
Harvey Becker began working for CG Conn in Elkhart, Indiana and later worked for Armstrong, which later became Selmer then Conn-Selmer. He has witnessed many changes in the industry; the largest in his view have been the CNC machines and computers, although his skills and craftsmanship are still a... more
Sue Bagnall is quick to point out that her favorite part of working for Conn-Selmer and being involved with the music industry are the people! She was hired by Selmer and stayed with the company during the merge with CG Conn, working primarily in the office. Over the years, she feels the greatest... more
Cynthia Templeton has worked for one and only one company in the music industry. She was hired by Selmer in Elkhart, Indiana in the early 1970s and remained with the company for her entire career. She remained with the company when it merged with Conn in 2003 and has supported the company in a... more
Edward Whitmyer began working on the bench at Selmer in Elkhart in the 1970s when most of the work was done by hand. During his long career, Edward, has witnessed firsthand the development of computer driven machines to complete some of the tasks he once completed by hand. His training on CNC... more
Diana White is like so many factory workers within the music industry because most of her friends and many members of her own family have worked in the same plant over the years. Diana is very proud of her work and the skills she has gained over the years, especially those related to CNC work in... more
Dennis Vaughn began working in the Selmer factory in Elkhart, Indiana in the early 1970s and stayed on when the company merged with Conn. His first bench job was for Armstrong Flutes before it was bought out by Selmer. He is well known for his special skills in the buffing room for Conn-Selmer, a... more
Birth Date: March 24, 1955
Deceased Date: September 20, 2019
Elaine Taylor began working on the bench at Selmer in Elkhart in 1975, where she covered cases. Over the years she has worked in the cork and padding department for saxophones, also in the instrument cleaning department, in the office and then as a supervisor in the instrument accessory... more
Birth Date: September 11, 1953
Deceased Date: June 29, 2017
Gary Shanholt began working on the bench at Selmer in Elkhart on Main Street back in the 1970s. He continued to work for the company after it merged with Conn, becoming Conn-Selmer. Gary began working on saxophones and later in the cleaning room before finding his niche within the company in the... more
Bernice Pelmear began working in the Selmer factory in Elkhart, Indiana in 1973. She was trained by veteran co-workers, a tradition she carried on as a trainer years later. Her work focused on assembling oboes and bassoons and continued on after the merge with Conn.
Deb Hart began working in the Selmer office in Elkhart, Indiana in the early 1970s and stayed on when the company merged with Conn. Among the elements of the company she has enjoyed the most over the years is getting to work with so many people who have become personal friends. She is very proud... more
Birth Date: November 29, 1912
Deceased Date: October 22, 2020
Viola Smith Viola played drums in a number of big bands and small combos during her career in music. She joined Phil Spitalny's all-female orchestra as the drummer and later appeared in such films as 1945's "Here Come the Co-Eds" featuring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. In the 1960s she joined the... more
Birth Date: April 2, 1946
Deceased Date: November 13, 2016
Leon Russell was the noted musician and songwriter who contributed greatly to popular and rock music during his long career. As a studio musician, Leon was active in the development of the Linn Drum Machine having provided Roger Linn with several ideas to create new sounds, such as the hand clap... more
Birth Date: November 21, 1928
Deceased Date: May 30, 2016
Mary Henkin was well known in the band and orchestra business as the hostess with the mostest. Along with her husband, Danny, they put on extravagant parties that were still talked about 30 years later. However, what many may not know is that she was half owner of all of her husband's musical... more
Nat Clark worked for the York Band Instrument Company for over 40 years! He was hired in New York in 1957 because his older brother was working for Carl Fischer, which owned York at the time. Nat later moved to the factory in Michigan where he started on the bench buffing instruments. He soon... more
Birth Date: May 5, 1934
Deceased Date: December 6, 2018
Ace Cannon grew up in Mississippi singing with his father on street corners and in church, and he knew even as a small child that he wanted to have a life in music. When he was ten years old his father drove him to Amro Music in Memphis and let him pick out an alto saxophone by CG Conn. Right... more
Birth Date: December 31, 1925
Deceased Date: January 24, 2015
DW Caffey was very young when he found himself enamored with the piano. In 1940, when he was just fifteen years old, DW taught himself how to tune pianos. He read a book and asked an old time tuner a few questions and was soon hired by a music store. He worked for several piano stores in... more