Russ Thomas is co-owner and "CEO" of Thomas Music.  He was educated at SUNY Fredonia and holds a Master's degree in Music Education.  Russ learned the art of instrument repair in 1967 under the watchful eye of Dominic Puccio.  He opened his own shop in 1968.  Additional training took place at the former Allied School in Wisconsin in the early 1970's.  He attended numerous Allied sponsored workshops and seminars prior to the formation of NAPBIRT (National Association of Professional Band Instrument Repair Technicians).  Russ was involved with NAPBIRT from the beginning - becoming a charter member in 1976.  He continues to attend NAPBIRT conferences around the country.

Russ is extremely active in the community.  He felt that our town needed an orchestra so he put out the word and the Irondequoit Town Orchestra was started in September 2011.  He is currently its conductor and welcomes new members at any time!  He was the conductor of the Irondequoit Concert Band for 12 years and is now a member of the band playing wherever he is needed, currently in the percussion section.  He is President of the Irondequoit Arts Council, has been a volunteer fireman with Point Pleasant for 40+ years and is currently the Treasurer of the fire department.  Russ is also an Elder and choir member at Irondequoit Presbyterian Church and plays trumpet in the brass quintet.

Jennifer (Thomas) Nicoletti, Russ' daughter, is the other co-owner of Thomas Music.  She was also educated at SUNY Fredonia where she graduated with a bachelor's degree.  She worked in the field of Human Resources for ten years before changing careers to work with her father as a band instrument repair technician in 2000.

Jen is the past President of NAPBIRT.  She regularly attends national and regional conferences to continue her repair training and education.  She is now a certified Straubinger repair technician after taking and completing the intensive workshop in Indianapolis.

Jen attends Irondequoit Presbyterian Church where she sings in the choir, plays in the bell choir and a brass quintet and is on the Finance committee.  She lives in Irondequoit with her husband, David, and two cats.

Byron Ford grew up in Richmond, VA and started playing the clarinet at the age of 11.  He attended Ithaca College and graduated in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in music performance and education.  Inspired by several instrument repair courses at Ithaca, he decided to pursue the field professionally and enrolled in the Band Instrument Repair Technology program at Renton Technical College near Seattle, WA.  After graduating from the program in 2007, he returned to the east coast to begin his career as a band instrument repair technician.  Byron is a member of NAPBIRT and regularly attends regional and national conferences to further develop his repair skills.  He lives in Rochester with his wife Jen and dog, Toby.