Canadian Music Industry
Warren Price’s father started a small Canadian music retail store when Warren was just 17 years old. Soon after Warren purchased his first drum kit and discovered he wanted to join his father in the music business. A few years later, with his father’s blessing, Warren started a drum shop and a...
Bruce Mitchell is a veteran of the Canadian piano and organ industry dating back to 1966 when he was hired as the Hammond Organ sales rep for Canada. Bruce has since been deeply involved with Kurzweil Music and Young Chang as well as the Musical Instrument Association of Canada (MIAC). During his...
Hugh Goldsmith was hired by the Mason-Risch Piano Company of Canada when he was still a teenager in 1937. Times were difficult during the depression era and into the war years when Hugh enlisted into the Canadian Air Force. After the war he returned to the industry and worked as a traveling sales...
William Locke worked for the Canadian division of the C.F. Martin & Company going back to the early 1970s. During that same time period, several suppliers came together to form the Musical Instrument Association of Canada (MIAC). William (Bill) joined the board of MIAC, including a term as...
Fred Kalisky became enamored with the maracas on his very first trip to Mexico City and realized it was an instrument that could be successful in the Canadian market (his home since relocating from his native Poland after World War II). The same year, 1957, he formed his wholesale business and...
Fred Theriault recalls the first time he set foot in Long & McQuade’s Music Store. He was still a teen and bought a snare drum from Jack McQuade; ironically Fred later was hired and has spent nearly 50 years with the company. Jack Long hired Fred in the store and soon put him in charge of the...
Jean Larrivee fell in love with the guitar as a young boy growing up in Canada during the folk craze of the 1960s. He imagined a unique sound for an acoustic guitar and set out to create a handcrafted instrument that would produce that sound. The more guitars Jean created, the more demand he seemed...
Ray Ayotte was born in Millardville Canada where as a youngster he began playing drums for rock bands he formed with schoolmates. Throughout his early playing days, Ray made little adjustments to his kit and learned that other players enjoyed the changes and sounds he could make. He dreamed of one...
Al Kowalenko oversaw one of the largest growths in the music products industry during the 1980s and 1990s –the Canadian market. As president of MIAC, beginning in 1979, Al fostered the development of the Canadian annual music fair and the relationships between retailers and suppliers. Al has also...
Thomas Siwe served as president of the Percussive Arts Society (PAS) in the early days of the organization. In fact, while serving on the board he took part in the expansion of the PAS chapters into Canada. He also played a vital role in the beginning stages of the PAS museum. As an educator and...