Since its beginning in 1990, the major focus of Jeanne Inc. has been the development and precision manufacturing of the highest quality of reed tools and accessories. When the first shaper tips for oboe and English horn entered the market in 1991, they were quickly adopted by many of the top professional oboists in the major orchestras of the United States and Canada. For the first time, shaper tips were manufactured at extremely close tolerances and with the necessary hardness to maintain those dimensions, through the use of electronic discharge machines.
The late John Mack, former solo oboist of the Cleveland Orchestra, was instrumental in assisting with the development of some of our early products. The design process for what was to become the Jeanne oboe gouging machine began one day in his studio in Cleveland where we deconstructed every available gouging machine to determine what we liked best and what additional features were desirable. From there Valarie Anderson set out on her own and over the next year, designed a completely new, fully adjustable gouging machine. Mr. Mack was a great believer in our products and in fact, adopted our Jeanne standard shaper tip to perform on at the height of his career.
As the company expanded, many new products including a line of instrument stands for the oboe and clarinet family were developed. We also designed a new reed gauge for the clarinet and saxophone, so that those performers had a device that would accurately measure the vamp of their reeds. We developed a line of silk swabs for each of the woodwind instruments, as well as many other smaller tools for oboe such as an easel, plaque and cane gauge.
Jeanne Inc. began publishing music to complement our established woodwind reed tools and accessories department almost twenty years ago. The impressive roster of composers that we represent includes some well-established names as well as some younger talented composers. Although most of the composers reside in the United States, several are as far away as Brazil and South Korea.
Since the beginning of our publication department, we have been printing new issues of older compositions from the seventeenth through the early twentieth centuries. Our staff has traveled to visit libraries in the major cities of Europe and the United States in search of these buried treasures. Many of these works by lesser known composers were no longer in print but still contain wonderful, exciting music.
In recent years, we have published new editions of some of the major study materials and repertoire. Whenever possible we consult the original manuscript or earliest known publication. We compare these to the other editions currently in print, correcting obvious errors and making editorial decisions based on our many years of experience. Our editors include some of the most renowned teachers and performers on their respective instruments such as saxophonist, Eugene Rousseau; bassoonist, Charles Ullery; clarinetist, John Anderson; and oboists, Jan Eberle and Valarie Anderson. We take pride in the high quality of our publications. Our goal is to produce accurate editions that are easy to read, but at an affordable price.
Jeanne, Inc. carries an assortment of products which are the best of their kind. These are the very tools and materials we use ourselves. When you call Jeanne, Inc., you will receive knowledgeable and professional assistance and advice from experienced performers and teachers on the woodwind instruments. If we don’t consider a product good enough for us to use in our own musical careers, we will not sell it. And if we sell it, we guarantee it.