Editing Conn-Selmer (section)

==History==
===Origins===
The origins of the Conn-Selmer company begin with the H. & A. Selmer company. In the late nineteenth century, brothers Alexandre and Henri Selmer graduated from the Paris [[Conservatoire de Paris|Conservatory]] as clarinetists. They were the great-grandchildren of French military drum major Johannes Jacobus Zelmer, grandchildren of Jean-Jacques Selmer, the Army Chief of Music, and two of 16 children in this musical family.<ref name="Sax">Priestly, Brian, Bacon, tony and Trynka, Paul, Selmer (Paris), The Sax and Brass Book, Backbeat Books, 1998, p.100–113</ref> At the time, musical instruments and accessories were primarily hand made, and professional musicians found it necessary to acquire skills allowing them to make their own accessories and repair and modify their own instruments. Establishing [[Henri Selmer Paris|Henri Selmer & Cie.]] in 1885, Henri began making clarinet [[Reed (music)|reeds]] and [[Mouthpiece (woodwind)|mouthpieces]]. In 1898, Henri opened a store and repair shop in Paris and began producing [[clarinet]]s,<ref name="Sax"/> and Alexandre joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra that same year.

In 1904, Selmer clarinets were presented at the Saint Louis (USA) World's Fair, winning a gold medal, and Alexandre Selmer was First Clarinetist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.  Alexandre established himself in New York in 1909, opening a shop that sold Selmer clarinets and mouthpieces. The H. & A. Selmer (USA) Company grew out of that retail operation.<ref name="Morgan 1994">{{cite web|url=http://www.woodwind.org/clarinet/Equipment/Selmer.html|author=Morgan, Ralph|date=1994|title=History of the H. & A. Selmer Company|access-date= 2017-09-13}}</ref>

===The H. & A. Selmer (USA) Company===
[[File:Selmer Bundy II Alto Sax.jpg|thumb|right|Selmer Bundy II Student Alto Saxophone]]
In 1910, Alexandre returned to France and the H. & A. Selmer store was managed by George Bundy.  The store expanded its product line, selling "Selmer" branded wind instruments and mouthpieces from manufacturers in the US in addition to Selmer (Paris) products. In 1923, the '''H. & A. Selmer Company''' was incorporated to expand its retail operations. A 49% share was sold to [[C.G. Conn|C. G. Conn Ltd]] while Selmer (Paris) retained a minority interest.  In 1927, Bundy gained full ownership, establishing independence of the company.  H. & A. Selmer (USA) remained the sole importer of Selmer (Paris) products, including saxophones and brasswinds once exports of such instruments to the USA commenced.

In 1936, Selmer changed its distribution strategy, abandoning most retail and becoming a wholesaler of instruments and supplies.<ref name="Morgan 1994" />  Selmer went on to establish itself as a leading distributor of student-grade instruments under its ''Artley'' and ''Bundy'' brands.

In response to the unavailability of Selmer (Paris) instruments after the [[German military administration in occupied France during World War II|German defeat of France in 1940]], Selmer sought alternate sources for wind instruments and distributed them under their new student-line ''Bundy'' and intermediate ''Signet'' brands.<ref name="Morgan 1994" />

In 1950, George Bundy retired and sold his shares to partners Joseph M. Grolimund, Jack Feddersen, Milt Broadhead, and Charles Bickel.<ref name="Morgan 1994" />

Starting in 1952, the Selmer Artist program offered special deals for musicians who agreed to perform and record exclusively with Selmer (Paris) instruments, boosting the reputation of Selmer (Paris) instruments among aspiring professionals.

In 1958 Selmer acquired the Harry Pedler and Sons brasswind plant in Elkhart, starting in-house production of Bundy student-line brasswinds. In 1961, Selmer acquired the brasswind manufacturer [[Vincent Bach Corporation]]. Selmer moved production from Bach's Mount Vernon, New York facility to Elkhart in 1965 while retaining the premium line ''Bach Stradivarius.''  The services of Mr. Vincent Bach were retained for design of student-line brasswinds.<ref name="Morgan 1994" />

In 1963, Selmer acquired ownership of its main supplier of student saxophones, the [[Buescher Band Instrument Company]]. Selmer continued distributing identical Bundy and Buescher instruments until it discontinued the Buescher name in 1983.

In 1966, Selmer acquired the rights to the ''Brilhart'' line of woodwind mouthpieces, with production contracted to the [[Santy Runyon|Runyon Company]], and the Lesher Woodwind Company, a manufacturer of oboes and bassoons.<ref name="Morgan 1994" />

In 1970, Selmer acquired additional production facilities from C.G. Conn, who were divesting their Elkhart, Indiana operations. In 1977, Selmer acquired the stringed instrument maker Glaesel. In 1981 Selmer acquired the [[Ludwig Drums|Ludwig Drum Company]].<ref name="ludwig-history">{{cite web |url=http://www.conn-selmer.com/en-us/about/history/our-brands/ludwig/ |title=Ludwig |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=Our Brands |publisher=Conn-Selmer, Inc. |access-date=2015-12-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827193517/http://www.conn-selmer.com/en-us/about/history/our-brands/ludwig/ |archive-date=2016-08-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The era of H. & A. Selmer as an independent company ended in 1970, with its acquisition by the electronics firm [[Magnavox]].<ref name="Morgan 1994" />  Magnavox was sold to [[Philips Electronics]] in 1974 and the Selmer properties were sold to the investment firm Integrated Resources in 1989. With the 1993 bankruptcy of Integrated Resources, Selmer was sold to the investment firm Kirkland Messina and reorganized as '''Selmer Industries, Inc.''', with '''The Selmer Company''' name used for its instrument manufacturing operations.

===Recent history===
With the backing of Kirkland Messina, Selmer Industries acquired the '''Steinway Musical Properties''' company, the parent company of [[piano]] manufacturer [[Steinway & Sons]], in 1995 and changed their own name to '''[[Steinway Musical Instruments]]'''. The domestically produced Bundy brand was discontinued shortly afterward, replaced with student wind instruments sourced from Asia and sold as ''Selmer (USA)'' woodwinds and ''Bach'' brasswinds.

In 2000, Steinway Musical Instruments acquired United Musical Instruments (owners of Artley, Armstrong, [[Elden Benge|Benge]], [[C.G. Conn]], [[H.N. White|King]], Scherl & Roth), then merged it with The Selmer Company's instrument manufacturing operations to form '''Conn-Selmer''' in 2003.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.steinwaymusical.com/content/about_us.htm |title=Steinway & Sons |publisher=Steinwaymusical.com |access-date=2014-04-09}}</ref> In 2004, Conn-Selmer acquired the [[Leblanc (musical instrument manufacturer)|Leblanc Company]], gaining their exclusive distribution rights for [[Yanagisawa Wind Instruments|Yanagisawa]] saxophones in the US and Canada. Conn-Selmer kept Leblanc in production of clarinets but ended their brasswind production in 2007, discontinuing their [[Martin Band Instrument Company|Martin]] brand and moving production of their [[Holton (Leblanc)|Holton]] brand to Elkhart, Indiana. Conn-Selmer retains the North American importation and distribution rights for [[Henri Selmer Paris|Selmer (Paris)]] and [[Yanagisawa Wind Instruments]] formerly held by H. & A. Selmer and Leblanc, respectively.

Conn-Selmer is the largest manufacturer and importer of band and orchestral instruments in the United States. It has manufactured instruments in six domestic facilities since 2002:
*[[Cleveland, Ohio]]
*[[Eastlake, Ohio]]
*[[Elkhart, Indiana]]
*[[Kenosha, Wisconsin]] (closed)
*[[La Grange, Illinois]] (closed)
*[[Monroe, North Carolina]]
It has been heavily involved in outsourcing manufacturing of brands formerly associated with American manufacturers, including Ludwig drums, Glaesel, Scherl & Roth, and Wm. Lewis and Sons stringed instruments to China and Selmer (USA) wind instruments to various Asian sources.

The employees at the [[Vincent Bach Corporation|Vincent Bach]] facility in [[Elkhart, Indiana]] represented by [[United Auto Workers]] Local 364, struck on April 1, 2006, and as of July 30, 2009, the union was decertified.  Out of 230 workers that went out on strike approximately 70 returned with the remaining workers having been subject to recall until July 30, 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.etruth.com/Know/News/Story.aspx?id=489779%20 |title=Elkhart Truth |publisher=Etruth.com |date=2014-01-24 |access-date=2014-04-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718102847/http://www.etruth.com/Know/News/Story.aspx?id=489779%20 |archive-date=2011-07-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2006, calls were made for the [[American Federation of Musicians]] to boycott the entire Steinway-Conn-Selmer instrument company due to its permanently replacing union workers at its manufacturing facilities.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/11/10/18328683.php |title=Elkhart, Indiana Vincent Bach Music Instrument UAW364 Workers Fight For Justice |website=Indybay.org |access-date=30 May 2018}}</ref>

The employees represented by United Auto Workers Local 2359 at the Eastlake, Ohio Conn-Selmer manufacturing plant called a strike on July 26, 2011, after working without a contract since February 2011,<ref>{{cite web  |url=http://www.steinwaymusical.com/images/newsfiles/116309Strike%20at%20Conn-Selmers%20Eastlake,%20Ohio%20Plant.pdf |title=Steinway & Sons |publisher=Steinwaymusical.com |access-date=2014-04-09}}</ref> and settled with the company on October 21, 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.steinwaymusical.com/images/newsfiles/153034UAW%20Ends%20Strike%20at%20ConnSelmers%20Ohio%20Plant.pdf |title=Steinway & Sons |publisher=Steinwaymusical.com |access-date=2014-04-09}}</ref>

In 2013, the [[Paulson & Co.]] investment firm acquired Steinway Musical Instruments.<ref>{{cite web |title=Paulson & Co. Announces Completion of Acquisition of Steinway Musical Instruments |url=http://www.steinway.com/news/articles/paulson-co-announces-completion-of-acquisition-of-steinway-musical-instruments/|website=Steinway.com}}</ref>