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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 have been involved with the Vermont Music Educators Association for many years, first as magazine editor, then All State Festival Assistant Director, and currently as All State Festival Director. I also help produce concerts and other events for Fairlee Community Arts.
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.