Your shopping cart is currently empty.
If you have not already done so, you can login to your account to see any items that may be saved in your cart. Once logged in, you may also add items to the cart that you saved previously to your wishlist.
Staff Directory
GORDON
Band Instrument Repair Technician
Primary Instrument: Euphonium
I grew up in Rhode Island and graduated from Portsmouth High School. I marched 2 years in drum and bugle corps with the Boston Crusaders. Studied music for a year and realized teaching wasn't for me and decided to go to instrument repair school in Red Wing, Minnesota. After repair school, I worked at Shires custom trombone factory about 9 months. I saw a job opening at Ellis Music in the spring of 2003, applied for it, and was hired. I've been here since then. I enjoy mountain biking in the summer and snowboarding in the winter. I also do some maple sugaring in the spring at my house. I have a wife and 2 children. My wife is a music teacher in Rutland city schools and has been teaching music for almost 20 years. My son started playing sax and lost interest but enjoys gaming with his friends. My daughter has started playing trumpet and is very interested in cheerleading. Music got me through school and gave me a career.
DENIS
Webmaster, Systems Integration & Educational Representative
Primary Instrument: Trombone
After graduating from Keene State College, I taught music in public schools for 5 years, four of them at Fair Haven (Vt.) Union High School. I spent two decades serving the Vermont Music Educators Association for many years, first as magazine editor, then as All State Festival Assistant Director and eventually VT All State Festival Director. I help produce concerts and other events for Fairlee Community Arts (another volunteer role) and serve as a town delegate for ECFiber.
MAX
Band Instrument Repair Technician
Primary Instrument: oboe
With a long-standing residency in Vermont, Max began his musical journey at a young age and continued to cultivate his passion for music through college. Upon discovering an interest in musical instrument repair, he pursued formal training at the Red Wing Program in 2018 and subsequently joined the team at Ellis. In his spare time, Max appreciates outdoor activities such as hiking, showcases his musical talents by performing on the oboe with the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra, and engages in creative writing and crafting during moments of relaxation.
SETH
Band Instrument Repair Shop Manager & Technician
Primary Instrument: sound consoles
Seth started working in the warehouse polishing while in high school. After graduation, he went to repair school in Red Wing Minnesota and returned to Ellis Music to work as a repair tech and then an educational representative. After a break during which he pursued the technical side of theater and concerts, he returned to Ellis and became shop manager in 2023.
Outside of work Seth spends time with his family, camping/hiking, home improvements, and running sound and other technical aspects for community and professional shows and concerts.
SOFIA
Band Instrument Repair Technician
Primary Instruments: bassoon, oboe, bass guitar
I'm a Californian by birth, but a Vermonter by choice. I arrived in Vermont in June 2022 and quickly adapted to life in the region. When I speak of the region where I used to live, I refer to it as the west coast, not as home. Vermont is my home!
I have been using basic hand tools (hammers, pliers, screwdrivers, etc) since before kindergarten. As a toddler, my parents had to keep tools locked away to keep me from disassembling random household objects in a quest to learn how they worked. Eventually I learned how to put things back together. My hobbies of model railroading and model ships gave me a lot of practice with small tools, parts, and fabrication. I spent a number of years working as a mechanic which also included machining as well as welding fabrication. As a repair technician, I actively use these skills I've been honing since my age was a single digit.
When I was in 5th grade I started playing clarinet in the school band. When I arrived at high school I was surrounded by a sea of clarinets. I had to find something different, something no one else played. Enter the oboe. For a few years oboe became my primary instrument. I played principal with the regional youth orchestra, toured Central Europe with my orchestra, attended college as an oboe performance major, and joined the Marine Corps field bands as an oboist. However, along the way I fell in love with the bassoon, eventually becoming my primary instrument. I'm such a bassoon nerd that I have a tattoo of a bassoon, and if someone sneezes, I bid them "bassoonheit!"
Repairing instruments has allowed me to combine my passion for music with my talent for fixing things into a decent living. I work on all woodwind instruments, but primarily saxes, clarinets, and bassoons. Hope to see you real bassoon!
STEVE
Educational Representative & Customer Service
Primary Instrument: Saxophone
I have been been playing and teaching saxophone and jazz improvisation around the New England area for over 30 years. I am the author of many best selling jazz improvisation methods and founder of the popular saxophone site Neffmusic.com. My family and I have been living in Vermont for many years, and I am exited to be working at Ellis Music and interacting with the music education community in Vermont and New Hampshire.
LINDSAY
Customer Service
Born and raised in Vermont, I've always been proud to call the Green Mountain State my home. I've amassed a wealth of knowledge and experience from working in many different positions in many different verticals over the last few decades, including baking, sales, greenhouse, finance, and even roofing. A jill of all trades, perhaps? I love spending my free time outdoors with my German Shepherd, baking treats and making meals for friends and family, and browsing thrift stores for my next vintage Pyrex score to add to my growing collection.
Music has always been a part of my life to some extent; I played handbells and the clarinet in elementary school. I also sang in chorus through elementary and middle school, and even joined an acapella group during the summers. Although I don't sing or play an instrument currently (unless you count singing in the car and the occasional air guitar & drums), I do listen to a wide variety of music from all different genres throughout most of my day. I am always excited to receive recommendations for songs to listen to and enjoy. What should I listen to next?
EMILIE
Band Instrument Repair Technician
Primary Instrument: Clarinet
Hailing from the land of ice and snow in Buffalo, New York, Emilie's journey brought her to the College of St. Rose in Albany to study the art of music education. After her completion of college in 2012 she acquired a job at a music store that graciously allowed her to apprentice to learn how to put the heart and soul back into woodwind instruments.
The siren call of the Green Mountains beckoned her to the halls of Ellis Music in the May of 2024 in order to not only fulfill her need to continue putting instruments in the hands of students and musicians, but so that she could also explore the peaks and valleys that have captured her imagination from a young age.
MORGAN
Educational Service Representative & Customer Service
Primary Instrument: Saxophone
Morgan’s passion for music began as a ten-year-old playing the saxophone in Iowa. After high school, there was only one path that seemed right to Morgan: devote their life to the saxophone. This led Morgan to the University of Iowa, where they earned their bachelor’s degree in saxophone performance; and then to the University of North Texas, where they earned their master’s and doctoral degrees in saxophone performance. Morgan spent eight years based out of the Dallas-Fort Worth area performing classical saxophone and teaching music at all levels from beginners to graduate students. In the summer of 2024, Morgan relocated to Vermont and joined the staff at Ellis Music. They are extremely excited to contribute to and interact with the music education community in Vermont and New Hampshire.