Oral History - all
Joe Abbati is a creative technologist/educator/electronic musician based in Miami. He has been a faculty member in the Music Engineering Technology Program at the highly acclaimed Frost School of Music for more than 20 years. As Director of the Contemporary Media Performance Studio he aspires to... more
Shelly Berg is the Dean at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. Shelly is perfectly fitted for the position as his passion for the faculty, students and the ever-expanding programs and curriculum the school offers radiates off of him. The school has become one of the top music... more
Birth Date: May 1, 1931
Deceased Date: September 21, 2020
Ira Sullivan was just three years old when he pulled his father’s trumpet out from behind the couch and began blowing into it. His father began teaching him how to play and by the time little Ira was five, he was playing in his grandmother’s church. His first professional gig came when he was only... more
Tim Smith grew up in a very musical family as his father and uncle both wrote and record music. In fact, his uncle, Arthur Smith, wrote two of the most famous instrumentals in modern country music (“Guitar Boogie” and “Dueling Banjos”). Young Tim was playing bass in his uncle's recording studio... more
Rey Sanchez is a professor and the Associate Dean for the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami - one of the leading schools for music business programs. This special focus has allowed Rey to build many strong relationships within the music products industry, which has ultimately served... more
Jim Progris attended the Berklee School of Music back in 1956 and witnessed firsthand the development of the school’s courses and programs over the years. He returned to the school to teach in 1964 and became Associate Dean in charge of the entire curriculum, which he found very rewarding. Within... more
Aaron Stang, like so many of us in the music industry, clearly remembers a very inspirational moment in the development of his passion for music. As a kid he was visiting Manny’s Music in New York when he met guitar hero George Benson. That special encounter was one of several that convinced Aaron... more
Daryl Brooke opened a music store in Key West, Florida after retiring from the computer industry in 2012. The store was a dream of his and made perfect sense, especially considering his family always joked that he had collected enough gear over the years to supply his own store. Daryl’s passion... more
Jim Cliff remembers taking the bus into Minneapolis when he was eight years old to take accordion lessons. It was the beginning of his life-long love of making music. Among his career highlights was writing and arranging instructional music books, which were published by Hal Leonard and provided... more
Elisabeth Link, wife of Horst Link, played an important role in the success of Sonor - a company synonymous with quality percussion instruments. For many years, a critical part of the product palette has been the Orff Schulwerk instruments, which are used in classrooms all over the world. Elisabeth... more
Gerhard Klier’s grandfather, Anton Schrötter, owned a violin shop and workshop in Cheb/Eger. In the 1920s several of Gerhard’s relatives moved to the United States. His uncle, Roman Klier, ended up working for Wurlitzer repairing violins, while Gerhard’s grand uncle, Andrew Schrötter, opened a... more
Sebastian Dirr has relatives that play string instruments professionally, so it was only natural that they welcomed it when Sebastian decided to become a bow maker. After studying musicology, he started an apprenticeship at Paesold in 1988. Sebastian specializes in modern and historic bows. For... more
Thomas Hoyer is the product manager of string instruments and worldwide distribution for Paesold and Höfner. After receiving his master degree in violin making in 1998, he started in the Höfner master workshop. As a product specialist he later established production of violins in China and is now... more
Birth Date: December 24, 1929
Deceased Date: January 11, 2020
Karl Hoyer was born in Schönbach/Luby in the Czech Republic to a family of violin makers. As a child, he helped in his father’s workshop, and in 1944, went to the school of violin making in Schönbach where music lessons were part of the curriculum. When the family moved to Bubenreuth, Karl worked... more
Tilman Herberger was born in Leipzig to a family of music educators. At an early age, he was interested in electronics as well as music. While attending high school in socialist East Germany he decided to build a synthesizer out of radio parts, an electrical train set and parts of a defunct grand... more
Ilse Fischer delivered orders for Kirschnek on her scooter to the luthiers of the music town of Schönbach/Luby. Her father, Franz Kirschnek, established the company which specializes in exporting string instruments in 1933. After a move to Klingenthal, the company expanded to add harmonicas and... more
Hans Herb was a student at the school for instrument manufacturing in Bubenreuth. After completing his studies, he worked at Hoyer and Grüner, as well as Höfner before opening his own workshop. In the beginning, Hans focused on building lutes and later specialized in top quality guitars. His son,... more
Ewald Hannabach can recall nearly every detail about the life of the luthiers in the famous music corner in the Egerland, which served as the center of production of stringed instruments for centuries. Ewald was able to witness firsthand the move of the Hoyer guitar shop from Schönbach/Luby to the... more
Jacques Gaudet was president of the famous French brass instruments production company, Antoine Courtois. Since 1789, the name Courtois has been synonymous with fine brass instruments. In 1917, Jacques' grandfather, Emanuel Gaudet, was a music publisher who acquired the company. When Jacques’... more
Paul Baronnat started singing in choirs beginning at the age of eight. As a singer of the permanent choir of the Paris Philharmonic Orchestra, he was approached by RCA to work for its classical catalog. In 1985, after 15 years at RCA, Paul started to work for the woodwind instrument maker Buffet... more