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Ron President Ron grew up in Austin and was an active band member all through his school years, playing trumpet in marching band, concert band, jazz band and orchestra. He attended Southwest Texas State University for three years. In high school and college, Ron worked as a janitor and piano mover for Strait Music Company. He also taught organ lessons to beginners in the evenings. Ron moved to Corpus Christi where he sold Baldwin pianos and organs and began pursuing his dream of integrating education with sales. Five years later Ron was offered a job at Alamo Music Center in San Antonio selling Baldwin, Steinway, Yamaha and Kawai pianos, and learning all about how one piano was different from another and why one might be more expensive than another. In 1984 Ron was invited to come back to Strait Music Company as manager of the piano and organ department, and after working as salesperson and manager at Strait Music for four years, Ron decided to take the plunge and start a new company, Capital Music Center. The first location was in Barton Creek Square Mall with an 1100 sq. ft. store featuring acoustic pianos, keyboards, organs, and a new product called “digital pianos.” One day, a representative from Roland Corporation named Sally Blue walked into the store and asked if she could give Ron a “piano lesson.” She proved to Ron that by using the Roland Music Tutor he could learn to play a piece in only about an hour that would have taken him three weeks or more using the traditional way he was taught when he taking piano lessons as a child. This experience occurred just as music teachers and publishers all over the world were beginning to understand the benefits of using the new tools of technology to assist in teaching music. Ron immediately understood that this was the next step in achieving Capital Music Center’s vision statement of “People making music for life,” and he became the Austin-area authorized Roland dealer for homes and schools. Joining other institutions of higher education nationwide in embracing technology for music students, in 1991 University of Texas professors Martha Hilley (Department Head of Class Piano) and Amanda Vick Lethco (Department Head of Piano Pedagogy) purchased 46 Roland pianos and Music Tutors through Capital Music Center for use at UT. In 1993, Ron decided to support only products that help people learn, so Capital Music Center took a huge step by becoming the only dealer in Austin to sell digital pianos exclusively. As the use of technology has continued to lead the way in music education, Ron has assisted literally hundreds of educators and families in the Austin metro area in selecting digital pianos and Music Tutors. Ron’s customers include more than one hundred piano teachers, six school districts, four major private schools, and Capital Music Center’s own 300+ students taking lessons at our studio at 6101 Burnet Road. Ron says, “We are in the people business at Capital Music Center, not the piano business. Our goal is to teach kids and adults to have fun using the wonderful products they purchase from us. We give lifetime help with any product we sell, and we sell only products that actively help people learn to play!” By remaining true to Ron’s original vision of helping people become lifelong music-makers, Capital Music Center has grown to become one of the largest Roland retailers in the United States.