Oral History - all
Peggy Dahl-Bartunek grew up with four siblings who all took piano lessons – they even had two pianos in their house! Since the fifth grade, Peggy knew that she wanted to be a teacher and more specifically, a music teacher. She ultimately became a high school and middle school music teacher,... more
Daniel Haver was heavily influenced by the music he heard at home as a kid and wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and become an entrepreneur. He combined his love of music with his business skills and began working at Native Instruments right from the start. Daniel recalled in his 2021 NAMM... more
Dave Hill was always playing with electronics as a kid and also had a great love for music. He played drums in bands throughout high school but was always more interested in the science behind the sound. Towards the end of high school, Dave started working at a local music store doing repairs on... more
O’Lyn Callahan has played the piano since she was eight years old and started on organ at age twelve after receiving a Hammond B3 from her father. She came in third place at a Yamaha organ competition in 1973 (which took place at a NAMM Show) which resulted in her getting a job as a touring organ... more
Gayle Levant is the award-winning harpist who became the first woman to serve as President of the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers (ASMAC) which was formed in 1938! In the 1960s she followed in her father’s footsteps and began working as a studio musician in Los Angeles. Her... more
Dr. Lou Fischer has applied his love of music, his talents as a musician and his vast experiences on the road and in the studio to encourage students of all ages. Lou taught at Capital University’s Conservatory of Music for 26 years, established his own publishing company (which printed charts and... more
Paul Riser Sr. was given important musical training when he was in school, which helped set the direction of his career as a trombonist and later as an arranger. He was hired as a trombonist to join the famous studio musicians at Motown Records. He soon began arranging charts for the group and... more
Keith LeBlanc was one of the first drummers who used his funk music background to create beats that helped popularize hip-hop music. Keith was there in the beginning and while working for Sugar Hill Records worked with many of the pioneers of hip-hop including The Sugar Hill Gang, Grandmaster Flash... more
John Green began installing pipe organs when he was still in school and fell in love with not only the technical process but in the reaction of the customers. He worked in a music store in Newport Beach, California before being hired by Rodgers Musical Instrument Company in 1976. He was with the... more
John Nowland is the noted recording engineer who worked with such artists as Neil Young, Merle Haggard, Dr. Hook Frankie Beverly & Maze, and Jewel, among many others. As a kid playing guitar, young John worked at Peninsula Music Center in San Mateo, California, where he would sell records,... more
Steve Savanyu is the founder and executive producer for Buford T. Hedgehog Productions. His passion for providing sound systems for events goes back to his high school days and led to a 20-year career with Audio-Technica. He served as the Director of Educational Services and assisted with special... more
David Slan took three years of piano lessons when he was growing up before switching to guitar. He was heavily influenced by rock and roll and played in bands throughout high school and college. David’s original goal was to become a lawyer but after school he decided that it wasn’t for him. While... more
Birth Date: November 8, 1966
Deceased Date: April 6, 2022
Scott Lombardo worked in the music products industry since he was fourteen years old! His passion quickly developed after hearing The Beatles three years earlier. He would drill holes and attach wingnuts to his sister’s acoustic guitar to make it look like knobs on an electric guitar. Scott’s first... more
Jim Wilson incorporates his experiences as a gigging musician (he formed a duo in college and later played a Fender P-Bass in several rock bands) into the work he does as a piano technician. Being able to understand the needs of professional performers has allowed Jim to relate to and be trusted by... more
Birth Date: March 26, 1936
Deceased Date: January 14, 2022
Fred Parris grew up close to the Apollo Theater in New York where he was able to see many of the top acts in music. These experiences sparked a passion which led to his singing in several of the popular rhythm and blues groups of the 1950s (Fred prefers the term R&B Groups vs the term Doo-Wop... more
Marvin Blickenstaff has had an indelible mark on countless music students of all ages over his long career. As an educator he taught at the college level and has provided thousands of workshops, clinics and masterclasses on many aspects of music, especially in the field of pedagogy. As a method... more
Mickey Raphael grew up with a passion for music and was recruited to play sousaphone and tuba in his high-school marching band. While this was his excuse to get out of gym class, Mickey realized his love for music and gravitated towards playing the harmonica. He was deep into the folk scene in... more
Tim Ryan still a student at the California Institute of Technology in 1978 when he and two partners formed a company to produce a highly innovative, all digital synthesizer which they branded the Con Brio. The Con Brio incorporated 5 then state-of-the-art micro-processors – the same processors that... more
Andy Leary bought his first synthesizer when he was in high school and has been hooked ever since. His passion for music and electronics led him to attend a few classes at Stanford University taught by Dr. John Chowning, who is best known for his discovery of FM Synthesis. In 1991, Andy began... more
Dan Phillips enjoyed his experiences playing drums in his junior high school marching band and singing in the choir. He pursued music in college and became fascinated with the quickly developing electronic technology used in musical instruments. In 1989 Dan began writing for Electronic Musicians... more