OH Taxonomy
Emily Achieng Akuno became the first music professor from Kenya to be elected president of the International Music Council (IMC). This took place in 2018. The position allowed her the opportunity to bring attention to the challenges African nations face regarding music programs. Emily earned her...
Carmine Appice looked up to drummers like Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich as he honed his talent and became an extremely successful rock drummer. Working with names like Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, and Rod Stewart to name a few, Carmine has served as a drum and percussion inspiration to a generation of rock...
Rob Hanson joined the brass band as a school kid in a small town in England. When looking for a job Rob turned to John Packer, who owned and operated the instrument company that provided Rob his horns growing up. Time after time John reported that he did not have a job for Rob. Finally, Rob said he...
Nate Watts grew up in Detroit, Michigan when Motown was in full swing, and it proved to be a major inspiration for the bass legend. In 1974 Nate was summoned by Stevie Wonder to join his band and his first recording session with Stevie was on the classic album Songs In The Key of Life. Nate has...
Gabriela König is the CEO of König & Meyer, a music manufacturing company for which her grandfather started in the 1930s. He was a tool maker who saw the need for well structured music stands. The company re-emerged after World War II in 1949 with the help of a sales and marketing man named Mr...
Dave Black is the Editor-in-Chief, School Method Strategy (formally Editor-in-Chief, School & Pop Publications) of Alfred Music. He was heavily influenced by his junior high band director who provided the perspective of how being in a band would not only help in the development of various...
This video is of our annual NAMM Tribute, created in honor of our members and music industry friends who passed away in 2018 and early 2019. This Tribute was shown for the first time at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, California on January 24, 2019. All moving images within this video indicate those who...
Adriana Balic is a vocalist, keyboardist, guitarist, songwriter, producer, bandleader, and educator, covering styles from classical to pop/rock and jazz. From 2003 she served as keyboardist and vocalist to the Grammy Award winning artist “P!NK” on tours in the United States, Canada, and Europe. She...
Neil Larrivee was just four years old when he began playing drums. His father was a manager for rock bands and music was all around Neil as he grew up. He served in the Drum and Bugle Corps when he was 11 and soon embraced orchestral music and the timpani. He landed a job with Vic Firth, just as...
Axel Hartmann was given a piano by his grandfather, which changed his life. He soon developed a true passion for music. The first organ he played was a Farfisa and by 13 years old he was playing in a band. During this time in history, technology met musical instrument innovation and the market was...