Woodwinds
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...
Thomas Schreiber, grandson of Wenzel Schreiber, today runs his own repair shop and takes care of the woodwind instruments of several music schools in the region of Frankfurt. After an apprenticeship at Buffet Crampon in France starting in 1977, Thomas joined his father’s company ESM in Austria for...
Shane Henker has always been drawn to musical instruments, first as a player and later as a repair technician. While serving in the US Marine Corps, Shane played in the Army Reserve Band and later in the Gulfport Symphony. He attended the Band Instrument Repair program at Minnesota State College...
Chris Barker’s grandfather played the piano and made sure each of his grandchildren had a piano in their homes as well as the opportunity to take lessons. Chris was inspired by Elvis Presley to play the guitar and later switched to bass guitar when he joined a band in junior high. He played...
Nigel Clark began taking oboe lessons when he was seven years old. By the age of 17 Nigel started working in the music industry for an oboe reed making company Harry Baker ( oboe reeds) ltd. In 1973 he was able to buy, with partners, the small oboe making company T W Howarth & co Ltd., from...
John Rogers provided an in-depth overview of the Paxman Company during his NAMM Oral History interview, which happened to have taken place as the company was celebrating 100 years in business during the 2019 NAMM Show. John explained that the company started when Harry Paxman opened a small retail...
Jochen Keilwerth’s grandfather founded the Julius Keilwerth Saxophones company in 1925 in Grasnitz. Once one of the largest saxophone producers in Europe, Keilwerth also produced trumpets and trombones, and gained a particular reputation for the Keilwerth SX90R saxophone that was introduced in...
Martin Elneff is owner of i.K. Gottfried, a music store specializing in sales, production and repair of woodwind instruments since 1796. As a teenager Martin started in retail at Marno Sørensen music store in the heart of Copenhagen. He moved on to become successful starting an online business....
Poul Marno Sørensen inherited Marno Sørensen Music store from his father located for many years in the heart of Copenhagen. Poul remembers how his father worked as a musician in a circus before he settled to open the shop in 1925. Many important jazz musicians were customers here such as Archie...
Kenji Chiwaki followed in the footsteps of Toru Hora as the president of Buffet Crampon Japan. Hora-san opened the branch in Tokyo in 1967 and helped establish the brand within the Asian market. Kenji joined the company in 1986 and has focused on the three elements he learned from his predecessor...