On November 9, NAMM’s Dan Del Fiorentino shared the following:
The piano world lost a dear friend yesterday. Cecil Ramirez passed away from pancreatic cancer that he fought so hard against. He was just 60 years old.
Cecil started in the music industry in retail, working at the Music Box in Lodi, California. He created a keyboard studio feel within the store in 1983, which was an exciting time of technological advances in electronic instrumentation. Cecil remembered the early days of MIDI and the synthesizer boom. He later worked as a film composer before landing a sales position in a piano store in the Sacramento area, which brought him back to the instrument he most identified with. While at the store he began selling the PianoDisc products, which were owned by the same company that owns Mason & Hamlin Pianos. Cecil was hired by PianoDisc in 1996 and grew within the company to become the National Sales Rep for Mason & Hamlin. Throughout his life, Cecil created countless friendship with those drawn to his integrity, humor and passion for all things music.
