OUR STAFF

Meet our exceptional staff and learn a little bit about them

 

Paul Felzke - Owner / Repairman  

 Paul Felzke is the Owner of Tulsa Band Instruments. He is also our Head Repair Technician. He received his formal repair training at Western Iowa Tech in the late 1970's. He worked at the Sharp and Nichel in Oklahoma City and Conn Keyboards before opening his first repair shop in Tulsa called Felzke Repair. In 1985, he started Tulsa Band Instruments. The store was started as mainly a repair shop, doing repairs for Schools and professional musicians. Paul is THE repairman in Tulsa, and has repaired instruments for David Sanborn, Doc Severinson, Mike Anderson, Will Campbell, and Grady Nichols to name a few. Paul's main instruments are saxophone and flute, but he thinks he can play guitar, oboe, and bassoon.

Ceth Barnett - Store Manager / Trombone Specialist/ Road Sales

Ceth Barnett is a graduate of Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, OK, with a undergraduate degree in Trombone Performance. His teachers were L. Dale Barnett, Bill Hartman and Dr. Stanley George. Ceth is a freelance trombone player in the Tulsa Area. As a private lesson instructor, he is adjunct faculty at Tulsa Community College, he teaches privately for Broken Arrow Public Schools, as well as at the shop.  Ceth currently performs with the Tulsa Starlight Band, Tulsa Brass, the Sentimental Journey Big Band and plays bass trombone with the Signature Symphony in Tulsa.   He has also performed with the Tulsa Philharmonic and Jeff Shadley Big Band. Artists he has performed with include Clarke Terry, Steve Wiest, Frank Mantooth, The Temptations, Byron Stripling, Carmen, Colin Raye, Frank Sinatra Jr., Peter Cetera, and Johnny Mathis, . Ceth worked with Union High School from 1997 to 2005 as part of the visual staff, trombone teacher and taught the Trombone Choir.  He currently works as a consultant at Bartlesville High School, Berryhill High School, Coweta High School, Fossil Ridge High School in Keller, Tx and the Pride of Broken Arrow in Broken Arrow, OK.  He is also the Director of the Womens Basketball Band at Oral Roberts University. Ceth is the Sales Manager at Tulsa Band, and our Brass Specialist.  He has been working at Tulsa Band since 2000.  Ceth currently plays a Conn 88HTG, Bach 16G (circa 1978), and a Getzen 1052FDR Bass Trombone.  His mouthpieces of choice are the Schilke 51 and Bach 6 1/2 AL, and Griego 3 NY.

Alex Warrior - Sheet Music Sales / Trumpet Specialist

Alex Warrior (middle) has been working with Tulsa Band since 2005.  He is a graduate of the University of Tulsa with an undergraduate degree in Trumpet Performance and graduate of University of Missouri-Kansas City with a master's degree, also in Trumpet Performance. He has performed with the award winning Fountain City Brass Band, Puccini Festival, Northland Symphony, Kansas City Civic Orchestra, and Tulsa Symphony Orchestra. His teachers include Ron Predl, Steve Haefner, and Dr. Keith Benjamin. Alex has performed and studied with such notable artists as Charles Geyer, Byron Stripling, Bobby Watson, Conrad Herwig, Eldar Djangirov, Tim Ries, and Walter White. Alex is a sales representative at Tulsa Band. He currently plays a B&S Challenger II/3137, Bach C 229/25H, and Selmer(Paris) Piccolo Trumpet.  Alex is pictured with Terry Warburton of Warburton Mouthpieces and Mike Moore, Tulsa Jazz Trumpeter and teacher at Tulsa Public Schools.

Nick Fernandez- Sales Associate / Percussion Specialist

Nick has been working at Tulsa Band since 2009.  Nick graduated from the University of Arkansas with a music business degree. He has played drums since the age of 9. He was a member of Colts Drum & Bugle Corps in 2006 and has been a part of several drum lines in the past. Nick also participated in several ensembles at the University of Arkansas including: wind symphony, jazz band, percussion ensemble, and steel drum band. He has also played in the North Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, and various local bands in Fayetteville. Nick has taught percussion at Fayetteville High School and Sigler Music Center in Arkansas, and currently teaches percussion at Coweta, Owasso, and Holland Hall.   He also likes fast cars.
Gear:
Tama Drums
Dream Cymbals

Joseph Paul- Rental Accounts / Guitar Sales

Joseph Paul has been working at Tulsa Band since May of 2010. He holds a BA in history from the University of Dallas. Joseph has over ten years experience teaching guitar lessons, both at Tulsa Band Instruments and at Midtown Music School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In high school and college, Joseph studied classical and jazz guitar under Randy Wimer. Joseph is an accomplished singer/songwriter and has appeared on major label recordings with Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, Peter Frampton, Vince Gill, Jamie Oldaker, and others. He performs locally in Tulsa and maintains an internet presence at www.josephpaul.org.  He also plays Mandolin.

 

Ben Hay- Sales- High Brass Specialist

Ben Hay joined Tulsa Band in August of 2011. Ben is a native of Oklahoma and a new resident of Tulsa.  He holds degrees from Oklahoma State University (B.M. Performance) as well as the University of New Mexico (M.M. Performance).  Currently Mr. Hay serves as adjunct instructor for Tulsa Community College, where he teaches trumpet, chamber brass, and jazz combo.  Ben has performed with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, Tulsa Signature Symphony, New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, and the North Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, among others.  Mr. Hay has also performed as a member of the University of New Mexico graduate and faculty brass quintets.  In 2009, Ben was selected to be part of the International Festival-Institute at Round Top, TX.  In 2010 Ben attended the Rafael Mendez Brass Institute in Denver, CO and was named winner of RMBI Mock Orchestral Audition Competition for trumpet.  Mr. Hay has had the privelege of sharing the stage with a wide range of some of the world's top performers such as Joseph Alessi, Marshall Gilkes, Slide Hamptone, Greg Bissonnette, Tito Carillo, James Dick, JoAnn Falletta, and Johnny Mathis.  Ben's primary trumpet teachers have been William Ballenger, Jacob Walburn, Dr. Andrew Cheetham, Thomas Booth and Dr. John Marchiando.  If you have any trumpet needs, Ben is here to help!

Kevin Miller- Road Sales/Repair Technician

Kevin Miller grew up playing tuba in Owasso Public Schools under the direction of Harlan and Wileta Lamkin.  Kevin studied tuba and music education at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville where he studied with Gearld Sloan.  While in Arkansas, Kevin taught private lessons, freelanced on tuba, and performed with the North Arkansas Symphony, The Arkansas Symphony, The Fort Smith Sympony, and Solid Brass, no known as Natural State Brass.  Moving to Dallas in 2000 to pursue teaching opportunities, Kevin performed with The Dallas Wind Symphony,  The Dallas Wind Symphony Tuba Quartet, Mesquite Rodeo Band, and Richardson Symphony and freelanced throughout the DFW Metroplex.  Upon his return to Tulsa in 2010, Kevin began teaching low brass lesson for the Owasso, Union, and Broken Arrow Public Schools, as well as working with the Union Renegade Regiment as a marching tech and brass instructor.  Kevin performs on a Besson Sovereign 981 Eb tuba on a Monette 94 mouthpiece, and a vintage Besson Brevette 3 valve compensating euphonium with a Schilke 51D.  Kevin worked with Tulsa Band from 1997-2000 and we are so pleased to have Kevin back at Tulsa Band since 2010.  Kevin is a low brass specialist and is learning repairs under our Master Repair Technician.  Kevin is also part of our Road Sales team.