Leblanc (musical instrument manufacturer)

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Leblanc, Inc. is a musical instrument manufacturer based in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The company was purchased on 1 August 2004 by Steinway Musical Instrument Company, which now operates Leblanc as a division of its Conn-Selmer subsidiary.

Leblanc inc. employs approximately 300 workers at three sites in Wisconsin (two in Kenosha and one in Elkhorn) and about 40 workers in La Couture-Boussey, France.

[edit] History

Léon Leblanc (1900-2000) and Vito Pascucci (1922-2003) founded the G. Leblanc Corporation in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 1946. The American company was set up to import woodwind instruments made in France by G. Leblanc Cie.

G. Leblanc Cie. was a French company founded by Georges Leblanc late in the 19th century, and in 1904 had acquired Noblet, one of the oldest instrument manufacturers in France.

The American Leblanc firm went on to manufacture student instruments under the Vito brand, named after founder Vito Pascucci.

[edit] Acquisition of other instrument companies and their brands

Leblanc broadened its product line further with the acquisition of several other companies: The Frank Holton Company (manufacturer of brass instruments) in 1964; the Woodwind Company (manufacturer of woodwind mouthpieces) in 1968; and the Martin Band Instrument Company (manufacturer of brass instruments and saxophones) in 1971.

Since 1981 Leblanc has been the exclusive marketer of Yanagisawa saxophones in the United States and Canada.

In 1989 the American Leblanc firm acquired majority interest in G. Leblanc Cie. and took over its management.

[edit] References

• "History" page from the Leblanc web site. Retrieved 17 August 2006.