Selmer Band Instruments
John Foley grew up in Elkhart, Indiana and began working in the Selmer factory before graduating high school. He stayed on with the company, working in the Bach department with a focus on trumpet assembly. Over the years John has taken on the role of teaching the craft to new employees, a part of...
Virgil Storm was trained on instrument repairs on the plant floor of the Conn-Selmer factory in Elkhart over 30 years ago. He began working in the music industry with the Vincent Bach Company in the 1970s and, like many of his co-workers in the factory, remained with the company when it was sold...
Joe Cook began working in the music products industry with Selmer in 1966 with a focus on the saxophone products. He joined the Gemeinhart Flute Company in 1986 and remained with the famed Elkhart, Indiana firm until the time of his mini interview in 2011. While working with the Selmer Company,...
Edward Whitmyer began working on the bench at Selmer in Elkhart in the 1970s when most of the work was done by hand. During his long career, Edward, has witnessed firsthand the development of computer driven machines to complete some of the tasks he once completed by hand. His training on CNC...
Dennis Vaughn began working in the Selmer factory in Elkhart, Indiana in the early 1970s and stayed on when the company merged with Conn. His first bench job was for Armstrong Flutes before it was bought out by Selmer. He is well known for his special skills in the buffing room for Conn-Selmer, a...
Diana White is like so many factory workers within the music industry because most of her friends and many members of her own family have worked in the same plant over the years. Diana is very proud of her work and the skills she has gained over the years, especially those related to CNC work in...
Roger Shelton was hired by the Armstrong Flute Company and stayed on with the company when it merged with Selmer and later with Conn. Like so many of the factory workers in the plant, Roger takes great pride in the craftsmanship and skills he brings to the process of making musical instruments.
Tom Lacy began working for Armstrong flutes right out of high school in 1971 in the very plant he is working some 40 years later for the Conn-Selmer Company in Elkhart, Indiana. Along the way, Tom built his own flutes for several years before joining UMI and later Conn-Selmer. During his long...
John Creachbaum began his career in the music industry with Coffman Music in Ohio before he joined the Selmer Company in Elkhart, Indiana in 1984. He studied music education in college and trained to be a band director before working for the music store for eight years. His background as both an...
Gary Shanholt began working on the bench at Selmer in Elkhart on Main Street back in the 1970s. He continued to work for the company after it merged with Conn, becoming Conn-Selmer. Gary began working on saxophones and later in the cleaning room before finding his niche within the company in the...