HISTORY
1973-2003Our company story
is also the story of us personally.
Jon & Marcie in 1981
[Jon Jr. also gives his story over here.]Jonathon Sr. writes this about his lifetime romance with the flute...
I was born in Philadelphia in 1946, and fell in love with the flute in third grade when my parents rented an instrument for me to use in the school instrumental music program. I was the only boy who took up the flute, and I remember having to defend myself many times from teasing by those who thought it rather silly of me to play such a 'feminine' thing. I never thought of the flute as either gender, but just tried to learn how to make music as best I could without any serious teachers available. After moving to Massachusetts, my parents sought out a good teacher at the New England Conservatory's "Preparatory Department", and I spent my high school years unlearning all my bad habits. Thus my musical education at NEC began with weekly trips to Boston.
Even though I was not accepted in the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, I was allowed to play in the NEC Prep. Dept. chamber orchestra, and this became my greatest thrill and long range ambition, to play with a big symphony orchestra someday. Well, thanks to my weekly lessons and classes I was actually accepted into undergraduate study at NEC for a flute performance degree after graduating from high school, and the famous James Pappoutsakis
accepted me as one of his students! It was the most wonderful four years of my life, to have such a fine teacher and so many exciting opportunities to play and learn about classical music. Actually the field of electrical engineering had nearly enticed me into pursuing that career, but at the last moment I decided I couldn't be happy until I learned everything there was to know about the flute and music performance. The years flew by and the young kid who thought he was probably the world's worst flutist ultimately graduated with honors and landed a summer fellowship at Tanglewood Music
Festival. I thought I had died and gone to heaven!


HISTORY
accepted
me as one of his students! It was the most wonderful four years of
my life, to have such a fine teacher and so many exciting opportunities
to play and learn about classical music. Actually the field of electrical
engineering had nearly enticed me into pursuing that career, but at the
last moment I decided
I couldn't be happy until I learned everything there was to know about the
flute and music performance. The years flew by and the young kid who thought
he was probably the world's worst flutist ultimately graduated with honors
and landed a summer fellowship at Tanglewood Music