Former St. Louis Music President Passes Away

Gene Kornblum, who helped build St. Louis Music into a leading MI company, passed away on Sept. 17. He was 89.

Kornblum was born on July 21, 1935, and was raised in St. Louis. Under his direction as president of St. Louis Music, the company grew from 40 to more than 350 employees working at the company’s headquarters, research and development center, warehouse, and factory in St. Louis — as well as a factory in Yellville, Arkansas. The company did a broad international export business with its Crate and Ampeg amplification equipment. It also imported and designed Alvarez acoustic guitars, as well as Knilling string instruments. During Kornblum’s tenure with the company, St. Louis Music’s equipment and instruments were endorsed and/or played by such notable musicians as The Grateful Dead, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Fleetwood Mac, and more.

During his tenure in the MI industry, Kornblum also served as a NAMM board member and was president of the Guitar and Accessory Marketing Association (GAMA).

Upon his retirement in 2005, he served on the boards of trustees of the St. Louis Symphony, Opera Theater of St. Louis, the St. Louis Art Museum, the Foundation for Barnes Jewish Hospital, the Newmark Institute, and Arts & Faith St. Louis.

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