Band and Orchestra
John Kagerer is known as the Horn Doctor up in Anchorage, Alaska. With a very interesting background that includes welding and watch repair, John combined his skills to become one of the sought-after band instrument repair technicians in the state. After attending the Allied School, its founder,...
Kurt Pasch is the founder of the Music Man retail store in Anchorage, Alaska. Growing up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Kurt was surrounded by music and in fact played in more Polka Bands than most people have seen. His passion for playing was only equaled by his love of teaching music. After earning...
Sylvester Bowen is a man of many talents and ideas. Along with his brother Dewey, Sylvester opened Freedom Guitars in downtown San Diego in 1972. In fact, the Bowen family has a long history of music stores, with other siblings also owning stores at one point in Los Angeles, CA and Oregon....
Sharon Brown was a teenager when she first began working for Ted Brown Music. While in high school she met and began dating the founder’s son, Warren. Soon she discovered she had a real love for both Warren and the music business. She ran the record department and after marrying Warren, she...
Mark Dunkley is the president of Dunkley Music Inc. in Boise, Idaho. In fact this is just one of three locations that are situated along southern Idaho. Mark's parents opened the first location in downtown Boise, where Mark remembers going to as a small child. After earning a business degree and...
Loren Zimmerman owned Byerly Music in Peoria, Illinois during the 1970s and 80s and is credited for being among the first music retailers to have locations in shopping malls. When he purchased the company from his father-in-law, Eldred Byerly (who served as President of the NAMM Board from 1963-...
Craig Schertz worked for Byerly Music in Peoria, Illinois and saw an opportunity to purchased two of the company’s ten locations when his boss and the current owner, Loren Zimmerman, was ready to retire. The stores continued to grow throughout the 1970s and 80s and when Craig decided to sell the...
Randy Wood is the president of The Music Shoppe in Normal, Illinois. The store specializes in band instrument repairs and strong customer service. The store goes back to the days when a former college band director, John Noonan opened a small retail and repair store. In 1961, Randy's father, Tom...
Julie Jurgenson is among the pioneering women in the band instrument repair side of the music industry. She was trained at Red Wing and worked for a couple of shops before opening her own in Rochester, Minnesota. All along she wanted to service a large number of instruments and found it possible...
Carl Thacker was a teenager when he began repairing band instruments. In fact he was a Charter Member of NAPBIRT and attended the first annual convention before he was 20 years old. After a long career as the instrument repair technician for Illinois State Universally, Carl devoted himself full...