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Krell Names Milton as U.S. Western Regional Manager

Krell Industries, LLC has announced the immediate appointment of John Milton as the new Western regional sales manager. Milton joins Krell with a wealth of experience including the director of sales at BitWise Controls where he helped grow sales over 100 sales in a three-year period. As Krell's regional sales manager, John's responsibilities will include monitoring and participating in sales activities from the Rocky Mountains to the greater West Coast region. 

LOUD Appoints Tan Mackie Product Specialist

LOUD Technologies Music Gear Group has announced the appointment of Jason Tan to the position of Mackie product specialist for the APAC Region. Based in Singapore, Tan joins LOUD after more than 20 years in the professional audio industry.

In addition to a lengthy career in live sound and recording, Tan is the founder of Eastwardaudio, one of the region's major production facilities, where he oversaw productions for Universal Music, Sony BMG, EMI, Pony Canyon, and other major labels, as well as film scores and corporate clients including Coca Cola, Lexus, Hitachi, and Motorola. Singapore's National Arts Council also appointed Tan as a mentor to their youth music program.

Arturia appoints Goldheim as President, U.S. Operations

Grenoble, France-headquartered music software and hardware company Arturia has appointed former Focusrite-Novation director, U.S. Sales Ralph Goldheim to the newly-created position of president, U.S. Operations as part of its ongoing expansion strategy.

Goldheim brings extensive experience in sales and marketing management to Arturia, having worked in the pro audio/MI industry for more than 25 years with a number of key executive positions to his notable name, including significant tenures at M-Audio (MSN), 360 Systems (VP), Line 6 (VP/co-founder), and Alesis Corporation (VP) prior to Focusrite-Novation.

Aurisonics Names Volkerding National Sales Manager

Aurisonics, Inc. has named Mike Volkerding to the position of national sales manager for the U.S. MI market. Volkerding 's new role will be to develop partnerships with music retailers and their clients: the performing musician.

Boulder Creek Guitars Names Hurwitz VP

Boulder Creek Guitars, Inc. has named Michael Hurwitz as vice president of Worldwide Sales. Hurwitz will oversee the sales of domestic U.S. dealers and international distributors.

“Michael is a true professional,” says Mike Replogle, Boulder Creek Guitars COO. “I’ve worked with him for over 15 years and have alway been impressed with his ability to generate positive results and great relationships – I’m truly excited to be working closely with him again at this great company”.

New Hires at Seymour Duncan

Seymour Duncan recently announced that Max Gutnik has joined the company as CRO. Gutnik has worked as a key player for Apogee, DigiDesign, Avid, and Line 6 and will be overseeing sales, marketing, and new products at Seymour Duncan. CEO Cathy Carter Duncan says, "Max has the knowledge, skills, energy and enthusiasm to deliver results. He has played critical roles in product development, sales and marketing during large growth periods of several music companies. Best of all, he loves to play guitar."

GC Pro Appoints Riley Marketing Manager

Guitar Center Professional(GC Pro) has appointed Adam Riley to the newly created position of marketing manager, GC Pro. The announcement was made by GC Pro vice president Rick Plushner and reflects the division’s ongoing growth and expansion within the Professional Audio, Live Sound, House-Of-Worship, Education, and Installed Sound market sectors.

Personnel Realignments at D’Addario

D’Addario is adjusting personnel assignments to better align with their business partners and consumer needs in the market.

Steve Loud, e-commerce sales manager, has been assigned global responsibilities. Reporting directly to vice president of sales David Via, Loud will work closely with D’Addario’s international and U.S. sales personnel, dealers, and distributors to maximize e-commerce opportunities. Loud will be assisted by Pete Cerone, e-commerce project manager and the department’s newest addition, Jim Boyle. Reporting directly to Loud, Boyle will be taking on the newly created role of e-commerce specialist, assisting with site auditing, affiliate development, and other key e-commerce related initiatives. Since joining D’Addario full time in September of 2008, Boyle has held positions in the company’s Custom Installation (CI) department, marketing department, and has served over the past five years as a U.S. account executive in the Sales department.

GC Names Amkreutz Executive Vice President

Guitar Center has appointed Michael Amkreutz to the position of executive vice president, Marketing, Merchandising and E-Commerce, for the Guitar Center brand. Amkreutz’s appointment is the result of an extensive, nationwide search by Guitar Center management who ultimately selected him from an elite pool of candidates for his extensive marketing background. In this new role, Amkreutz will be responsible for all aspects of GC’s product assortment, in-store merchandising, marketing campaigns and e-commerce strategy. 

Conn-Selmer Names Troyka Educational Consultant

Conn-Selmer, Inc. has announced the addition of Frank Troyka to the Division of Education team in the position of educational consultant. Troyka will be joining Gary Markham and Paula Crider to continue to increase our educational outreach under the direction of Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser. 

Frank Troyka began his career as a junior high school band director and taught at three different high schools before accepting the position of director of bands, coordinator of fine arts at Berkner High School, within the Richardson Independent School District in Richardson, Texas, in 2006.  Under Frank’s guidance and direction, his bands earned finalist status three times in the state marching contests.  In addition, Frank recently earned the prestigious 2014 Texas Bandmasters Association Meritorious Achievement Award. 

SLM’s Craig Denny Promoted to Vice President, B&O

St. Louis Music has promoted Craig Denny to the newly created position of vice president – Band & Orchestra.  In this new role, Denny will be focusing band and orchestra instruments and accessories into one division, adding to an already impressive list of duties.

“Craig has shown a ‘Do what it takes’ attitude throughout his employment here,” Says Mark Ragin, CEO and owner of SLM.  “He has been willing to travel, take on new job responsibilities and support management decisions at all times, and we congratulate him on this new position.”

On the Move

Vic Firth Company recently announced that James Doyle has been appointed as vice president and general manager, assuming all day-to-day operations for the company. Doyle has been with Vic Firth Company since 2000, serving in various roles. This new arrangement will enable company founder Vic Firth to focus his time on two key areas: artist relations and product development.