Yamaha

Metroplex Piano, Yamaha and Carter Albrecht Music Foundation Donate Portable Keyboards For Students In Need

Celebrity Trumpet Player Freddie Jones Announces Donation of Digital Keyboards to Trumpets4Kids.

Yamaha Appoints Gerhart as Product Manager, Percussion Instruments

Yamaha has announced the appointment of Dave Gerhart as product manager for the company’s Percussion Department, Band & Orchestral Division. He will report to Troy Wollwage, marketing manager, Percussion Instruments.

Yamaha Young Performing Artists Program Deadline on Feb. 28th

The applications deadline for YYPA is February 28th. 

The Yamaha Young Performing Artists Program (YYPA) was designed in 1988 to recognize outstanding young musicians from the world of classical, jazz and contemporary music. Hundreds of applicants, ages 18-22, apply annually and undergo a rigorous taped audition process for a panel of internationally acclaimed musicians.

Winners of the YYPA competition are invited to attend an all-expense paid weekend as part of the Music for All™ Summer Symposium. Through this experience, they receive a once-in-a-lifetime performance opportunity in front of thousands of students with national press coverage, are honored at an awards ceremony, receive a recording and photos of their live performance, and participate in professional workshops and clinics designed to launch a professional music career. The 2015 winners will join more than 200 other talented musicians who have earned the distinction since the program’s inception.

Illinois Couple Wins Trip to Disneyland

Belleville, Illinois residents William and Cynthia Shirley, winners of the Yamaha Silence is Golden contest winners, holding a SILENT Brass practice system for trumpet at the 2015 NAMM Show in Anaheim, California, the largest musical instrument trade convention in North America.

Yamaha Appoints Gerhart as Product Manager, Percussion Instruments

Yamaha today announced the appointment of Dave Gerhart as product manager for the company’s Percussion Department, Band & Orchestral Division. He will report to Troy Wollwage, marketing manager, Percussion Instruments.

Yamaha Marching Snare Mounts Collection for Cymbals and Percussion Effects

Gear: Sax Accessories

Beginner and step-up saxophone accessories for the education market

With a nearly constant stream of new products coming to market, it can be nearly impossible to stay up-to-date on the latest musical equipment innovations and designs. This can also present challenges in terms of figuring out what equipment to recommend to your beginning and advancing saxophone students. With this in mind, these following reviews of woodwind mouthpieces, ligatures, reeds, and neck-straps for the beginning and advancing students should help provide a starting point as woodwind students consider upgrading their gear.

Exploring New Electronic Keyboards

Manufacturers discuss the latest keyboard tools for the music classroom

The integration of powerful new software has changed the way many sectors of the music industry have done business, from recording software to live sound and lighting and even at-home guitar rig design. But one segment that’s been poised to take advantage of this shift for years is electric keyboards, specifically those designed in tandem with educational programs.

For both educators and students, it’s all about options, according to Roland key accounts manager Ellen Gonzales. “We, as a consumer nation, have changed the way that we consume things,” she says. “We’re not just looking for things that we can buy to use today. We want something that can grow with us. Just think of iPads – people buy them and then constantly upgrade and add to them. I do think that’s a trend that won’t go away and it’s wise to play into that mentality.”

2014 YYPA Artists

Yamaha Young Performing Artists Program Shines Spotlight on Nine Outstanding Young Musicians

At the 26^th annual Yamaha Young Performing Artists (YYPA) Program, held June 21-23, 2014 at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, Yamaha Artist Services Indianapolis, in conjunction with Yamaha’s Band and Orchestral Division, announced the 2014 Yamaha Young Performing Artists (YYPA) Competition Winners. Since 1988, the YYPA Program has recognized outstanding young jazz, classical and contemporary musicians.

The 2014 YYPA Winners include:

Yamaha Announces Quest for Music Ed Contest Winners

Over $100,000 in gear awarded to eight schools

Yamaha has announced the winners of its Quest for Music Education online contest, which awarded a total value of more than $100,000 in band and orchestral instruments and equipment to music departments at eight winning schools across the United States.

The Quest for Music Education contest consisted of a series of online quests at usa.yamaha.com that covered a variety of topics, including Yamaha Artists, Yamaha Internships and Music Advocacy. Winning schools tallied the largest participation rate.

2014 Best Tools for Schools

Educators Highlight the Best Teaching Tools from the 2014 Winter NAMM Show

The annual Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim California is the place where hundreds of thousands of musical instruments, accessories, and related products are debuted to industry insiders. For the fourth consecutive year, educators at the music products convention combed the exhibit halls looking for the best products for classroom use in an array of different categories. Using an online voting process at sbomagazine.com and hard-copy ballots from attendees, music teachers made their selections, which culminated in a presentation of the 2014 Best Tools for Schools from the Winter NAMM Show.

Partnership Formed to Increase Piano Education

Yamaha and Quincy Jones’ Playground Sessions Team Up to Increase Access to Piano Education

Yamaha recently announced a new partnership with Playground Sessions, the award-winning interactive keyboard software co-created by music legend Quincy Jones.  The companies’ partnership demonstrates a shared desire to increase access to high-quality and engaging music education for aspiring pianists in the U.S.