OH Taxonomy
Tony Lalonde comes from a family of inventors. His father, who held several patents for musical accessories, enjoyed a long career as a retailer in Minnesota. Tony and his brother started music stores in California in conjunction with Tony expanding the family’s line of patents and innovative...
Bob Gallien has been an innovator in bass guitar amplification for some 30 years! Inspired as a young guitar player in the 1960s by bands like the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, Bob loved the role the bass guitar had in rock music, although it was clear the sound needed improving. As co-founder of...
Jesse Flores was the founder of Flores Music stores located in Peoria and Pekin, Illinois. He had the idea of surrounding himself with music when he was a young boy and when the chance came to open a store, he took it. The year was 1957. Jesse saw the rise of the electric guitar and the home organ...
Paolo Fazioli heard a special piano sound in his head and yet was unable to find an instrument that was capable of producing the sound, so he built his own pianos. Beginning in 1978, he developed the techniques and use of special woods to craft one of the most revered sounds in the piano industry....
John Worthington began as an engineer in the early days of the Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI), and, in fact, helped program the MIDI time code. John also worked at Apple Computers during the company’s early involvement in computer music. His work led to the establishment of the music...
Peter Giles, the founder and president of Giles Communications, celebrated 20 years in business at the 2007 NAMM Show. During his interview, Peter proudly recalled his work in promoting the benefits of music making. Over the years, he has worked closely with many industry companies. For 15 years...
Takashi “Hagi” Hagiwara has been called the “godfather of Yamaha drums” as the unofficial ambassador of the company’s percussive products around the world. His father was a silversmith in Tokyo, a profession he was thought to continue, however he decided to take a part time job as a teenager in a...
Mototsugu Shimamura grew a small Japanese music retail store into the country’s largest music retail chain. Shimamura Music has played a vital role in music education and the expansion of the music market in Japan since 1962. As both president of Shimamura Music and an active member of several...
Gene Garb is the Vice President of NEMC, joining the company only a few years after it was established in the 1950s. NEMC is a school oriented music wholesaler located in Mountainside, New Jersey. The company’s focus has been to work closely with schools to create rental programs that best support...
George Westjohn was hired by Lowell Samuel to oversee the expansion of Mr. Samuel’s interests in the wholesale music business. Mr. Samuel, a former band director, started a music store in the 1940s and a decade later established Midco Music, a music wholesale business with a focus on band and...