Mike is the senior member of the Institutional Solutions Group in the Keyboard Division of Yamaha. Over the last 28 years with the company, Mike’s career has included nine years as the general manager of the Music Education Division. In his long career with Yamaha, he has been responsible for numerous special projects on behalf of both Yamaha and the music industry, including working on the team that developed the music and arts advocacy materials created by NAMM/MENC in the early 1990's. Mike was also on the small team that developed the initial Technology Guidelines for Music Educators, published by MENC and was a founding board member of The Technology Institute for Music Education (Ti:ME). Also in the area of distance learning he was the lead Yamaha manager for the development of the 2002 International Piano-e-Competition, featuring for the first time a piano competition in which the judging panel was on two different continents, yet judging the competitors “real time” from one performance site using Yamaha Disklavier technology..
A former public school music educator in the Northwest, Mike is the recipient of the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award for Music Education from Berklee College of Music in 1998 and similar awards from California MEA, The Young Musicians Foundation of Los Angeles and several other national music education organizations. Most recently he was honored as a Lowell Mason Fellow for his lifetime work in support of public school music education from The Music Educators National Conference. He has also served as a board member or consultant, with a focus on practical music education concepts and teacher training. He has served as a board member with The Pacific Symphony Orchestra, was a founding board member of Arts Orange County (CA), LA County Head Start, and as a trainer and consultant to the United States Marine Corps. Recruiting Command, MTNA, The TED conferences www.ted.com and colleges and universities nationwide.

The Education Resource Manager for the Yamaha Institutional Solutions group, Walt is a 26-year veteran of the K-16 music classroom. He holds degrees in music education from Millersville University (PA) and the Eastman School of Music, and has pursued doctoral study at the Pennsylvania State University. Honored for teaching excellence by both the Walt Disney Corporation as well as the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., Walt remains an active practitioner in music education. He serves as a guest conductor and adjudicator for student orchestra festivals around the nation and was recently named Artistic Director for the new Corona Symphony Orchestra in Southern California.

Over the past 25 years, David has been actively involved with numerous music trade organizations, including advisory roles to MENC and The Percussion Marketing Council. As President of GAMA, The Guitar and Accessories Marketing Organization, David helped produce a highly successful industry-wide music teacher development program that has established over 1,500 guitar programs in elementary schools nationwide.

The newest addition to the “Uniquely Yamaha” Educator Concierge team, David is a former professor of piano at Western Michigan University. He was the founder and first Director of the Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival and has also served as Director of the American Keyboard Association, Dean of the Colburn School of Music (Los Angeles), and Director of Education for The Philadelphia Orchestra. Most recently, David was Manager of Institutional Sales for Steinway & Sons, New York.

Bonnie Barrett is music executive of noteworthy accomplishment. Her background encompasses successes in the areas of artist management, artist relations, public relations and marketing, as well as piano performance. She also brings an extensive network of personal relationships with international performing artists, journalists, opinion leaders, agents, managers and educators. Prior to her appointment at Yamaha, Bonnie served as Vice President of Barrett Vantage Artists, where she oversaw management for a celebrated roster of major international performing artists. Before Barrett Vantage, she was Director of Concert and Artist Activities for the Americas for Steinway & Sons. Earlier in her career, Bonnie distinguished herself in a number of roles of increasing responsibility in marketing classical and jazz music for major international recording companies including Bertelsmann Music, EMI-Capitol Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment.