Bennett Heinz
Bennett continues to work for Schilke Music Products, where he plays key roles across a number of areas—Bennett serves as production manager for the Greenhoe Trombones line, leads educational tours of the factory and the process of building brass instruments, works with customers in the showroom to help fit them to the right instrument or mouthpiece, travels to trade shows and events (including trips to Germany and Taiwan), facilitates parts/repair requests, and numerous other “hands on” tasks in the factory.
Bennett also organizes “Schilke Day” events at regional universities, including the University of Minnesota Duluth (where former UWSP trumpet professor and Music Department Chair Dr. Bob Kase serves the Dean of the School of Music) and UWSP.
Alongside his “day job,” Bennett still practices trumpet every day and works as a freelance musician in Chicago. He recently worked with jazz big band Heisenberg Uncertaintly Players to perform new arrangements of all of the music for the Beatle’s “Abbey Road” album.
Bennett shared, “Although my current career path is not what I originally intended on, I truly love what I do and I honestly don’t think I’d be where I am with the company had it not been for the Laird Award and using it as an opportunity to connect with Schilke Music Products.”