OH Taxonomy
Tom Rhodes was a Texas bandmaster who felt strongly about the need for sheet music dealers to work closely with school band directors. Along with two partners, Tom established the RBC Music Company in 1988. Within the year, they had created a small music publishing company under the same name. His...
Bryce Taylor was one of the best known and respected bandmasters in the state of Texas. His school bands performed at the Midwest Band Clinic, TMEA, and the Texas Bandmaster’s Association (TBA) for several decades. His close relations with music dealers made Mr. Taylor a role model for up and...
Al Sturchio has served the Texas Bandmasters Association for over 25 years as director and also as president. His passion and unbelievable energy has been a large part of the success of the association’s annual meeting and exhibit fair. The yearly program includes sessions and clinics as well as an...
Stephen Yu pioneered conga making in Thailand before it was common and popular. He also created a long list of items, beginning with guitars, for a number of other companies. When it was time for him to branch out and create his own name product line, he found his operations were already up and...
Tom Ostrander was the founder of Colonial Music in Mt. Vernon, Ohio. Now a string of stores, the retail company began with the simple idea of providing top quality instruments to the area school programs. He was born in Phoneton, Ohio, which is in Miami County, and was encouraged to play music by...
Pete Sides has a great passion for the music industry; in fact it is in his blood. On his mother’s side a piano tuner can be traced back to the Mayflower and on his father’s side, his grandfather was a piano tuner who formed a small retail store. His father opened Robert M. Sides Piano Service in...
Ernesto Gittli was born in Uruguay and moved to the U.S. as a small boy before he began taking piano lessons. He met his wife, who also taught music, and together they envisioned a music school that would encourage all ages to become music makers. Gittli Music opened in the mid- 1960s with a strong...
Arthur Gurwitz joined Southern Music Company in the late 1940s, soon after his military service during World War II. He expanded the business into publishing, and soon the Southern Music catalog became one of the best known around the world. Arthur played a vital role in the growth and development...
William Carpenter has an incredible understanding of the music business. Having developed and marketed a percussion accessory, Bill was hired in 1976 by Remo to assist in sales and product development. After 12 years working outside the music products industry he then returned to Remo in 1994 as...
Gene Fresco was one of the top sales reps of our industry. As a mentor and teacher, he provided real and practical sales methods to countless men and women in and out of the music products industry. His first love was selling and he made a career of it and the craft of teaching it to others. His...