Owner
Michael Norsworthy
Grammy award winning clarinetist and multi-instrumentalist, Michael Norsworthy, has been heard in major concert halls around the globe and is a recognized educator, technician and consultant.
A veritable chameleon, he regularly defies categorization and has captivated critics and audiences around the globe with performances that explore transcendent virtuosity and extremes of musical expression. To date, he has given over 175 world premieres with leading ensembles, including The Royal Philharmonic, Klangforum Wien, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Ensemble Modern and the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. He has collaborated with major composers from around the globe including Boulez, Birtwistle, Carter, Ferneyhough, Finnissy, Gompper, Lachenmann and Lindberg in halls such as Vienna’s Musikverein, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Hall, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Suntory Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Cadogan Hall and La Cité de Musique.
Norsworthy has always been interested in breaking down barriers that exist between classical music and popular and jazz as well as collaborating with artists working in other mediums. He has shared the stage with such popular and jazz icons as Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Savion Glover and Bela Fleck, worked in the motion picture industry and toured with numerous musical theater productions as a woodwind doubler. As a member of the Star Wars Symphony Orchestra, he has performed for combined audiences of over 730,000 people in the USA, Canada and Mexico with the touring production “Star Wars In Concert”.
His current discography numbers over 80 releases and can be found on the Naxos, New Focus, Albany, Mode, Gasparo, Canteloupe, BMOP/sound, ECM, Nonesuch, Navona, Cirrus Music and Cauchemar labels.
His personal approach toward presenting, developing, and nurturing the artistic possibilities around him have resulted in partnerships with world-class musical collaborators, schools of music, and manufacturers around the globe. He is an artistic advisor for Selmer Paris and an artist clinician for Vandoren.
Saxophone Specialist
Tim Lin
Tim Lin’s obsession with the saxophone started when his father rented a saxophone for him for his sixth grade after-school band program. After discovering John Coltrane recordings in high school, jazz became his passion and life’s calling. There was nothing more important to Tim than becoming a jazz musician.
Mentored by many world-class jazz saxophonists such as Bob Sheppard, Bob Mintzer, Jerry Bergonzi, and Larry Schneider, Tim developed his talent through their guidance and endless hours of practice.
Throughout his development, Tim found himself constantly tinkering with aspects of saxophone equipment to ultimately improve his sound and find optimal response within his set-up. He became a player who, after years of trial and error, understood the components of equipment and the production of a unique, balanced, and captivating saxophone sound.
With his innate ability to dumpster dive and “find” rare vintage equipment, Tim soon found himself accumulating one of the largest vintage saxophone and mouthpiece collections in the world.
Throughout his professional career, Tim gradually became a saxophone repair specialist and equipment consultant for both accomplished and aspiring players. Tim has studied saxophone repair with Bill Singer, Paul Degen and Doug Rowan.
Content Manager & Product Specialist
Josh Johnson
Josh Johnson is a multi-instrumentalist from New York, now based in London, who has played in the orchestras of more than 30 Broadway and Off-Broadway shows (pre-pandemic, he held the solo flute chair in the award-winning Yiddish revival of "Fiddler On The Roof", directed by the legendary Joel Grey, for over 2 years) ; a dozen national and international Broadway tours, performing in theatres and concert halls from Boston to Tokyo; and can be heard on nearly 40 film, television, video game, and commercial soundtracks.
Known worldwide as an expert in all things relating to woodwind instruments (his blog "So Many Instruments, So Little Time" has been read by over half a million woodwind players worldwide), Josh has also been sought after as a consultant by several woodwind manufacturers in the design and marketing of new instruments, has been described as the "Ollivander of The Woodwind World" for his ability to match players with the perfect equipment setup, and has managed (and continues to manage) the social media accounts of several woodwind instrument makers as well as retailers.
As a photographer with a keen eye for presenting musical instruments in their most beguiling light, Josh has recently started a line of merchandise featuring some of his more popular photographs, which can be found on his website
Shop Dog / Instrument Selection Expert / Greeter
Herbie
Herbie is our resident shop dog. He's a snuggly pure bred Chinese Shar Pei who was born on July 4, 2020.
Herbie takes his job VERY seriously. He regularly polices the noise level in the hallway because he wants you to have the best environment possible for equipment selection!
Herbie's ears may be small and tipped but rest assured that he's listening intently and will come over when you've found a good match in an instrument, mouthpiece or reed to let you know that he approves.
His cheeks are big and squishy (please no squeezing) and he can be compared to a hippopotamus after a drink of water.
He loves to play with balls, is a big fan of healthy treats and he's genuinely excited to meet anyone and everyone that comes into our shop.
When not working, he can often be found sleeping in his large comfy bed near our repair benches dreaming about cats, all of whom he loves.