OH Taxonomy
Chris Martirano started working for Kurzweil Music Systems in 1986. For the first few years he was on the sales side of the equation, originally the district sales manager for the northeastern U.S., then promoted to regional manager for all states east of the Mississippi River in 1988. Later he...
David Battino majored in philosophy at Oberlin, but found his epiphany in the college’s electronic music studios. Suddenly it was possible to create both the instruments and the music, and he began writing to share that excitement with readers around the world. He joined Keyboard Magazine in 1994,...
Leng Tshua has played an important role in the piano industry both in the United States and his home country, Singapore. His passion for music began when he was inspired by his aunt playing the piano. Her enthusiasm and those melodies stayed with young Leng, who went on to take lessons. He entered...
Steve Shelokhonov was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and was classically trained on the piano. As a teenager and young adult, Steve played in underground rock clubs in Russia before moving to the United States. He began writing music and attending the NAMM Shows where he was exposed to...
Bill Seymour played several instruments in school including the trumpet, drums, and violin. Early in his career he established a software company with a focus on relational databases. He was hired as a consultant to help the team at Pearl Works, which was fitting as he felt a strong bond with any...
Abraham De La Riva was helping his father’s band running sound when he noticed a need. The musicians in the band had the same issues as those in his high school musical productions, people on stage could not hear each other clearly. Abraham, with this father’s assistance, set out to create Peru’s...
Gregory Farmer is an enthusiastic, talented, self-taught synthesist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, performer, and producer. He has collected and plays a wide range of electronic and acoustic instruments, and they’re all set up and ready to play in his excellent home studio. Greg’s wife Claudia...
Starr Parodi, has actively made beautiful music for the masses in all sorts of venues. As a pianist, synthesist, composer, producer, arranger, and conductor Starr has worked on a bevy of projects with headliners including Carole King, Stevie Wonder, Seal, Mariah Carey, Ray Charles, Whitney Houston...
Mathew Schirado can tell you the first music store he ever entered. As a kid he went into Eckroth Music in Bismarck, North Dakota, with his parents when he first joined the school band. When he was 18 he returned to purchase some reeds and saw a job opening, which he pursued. Beginning on a part-...
Honoring Larry Morton for his invaluable service in assisting the NAMM Resource Center in obtaining fantastic interview contributions to the NAMM Oral History Program. This video contains some of the highlight interviews that Larry helped us gather over the years. Thank you, Larry!