When Mark Foster Kanstul was born, December 21, 1955, he already had a double tie to musical manufacturing. The first tie, of course, was being born into the Zig Kanstul family. The second tie was the name Foster, in honor of his father's mentor, Foster Reynolds, plant foreman with F. E. Olds & Son.
Mark grew up in Anaheim, living just one mile from Disneyland. He attended Paul Revere Elementary School and Fremont Junior High, graduating from Anaheim High School in 1974.

At the same time, outside of school, he was receiving an additional education. He started his musical manufacturing career at the age of seven, assembling music lyre holders for F. E. Olds & Son in his father's garage for a penny apiece. At age sixteen, while still attending high school, Mark became the night janitor for Benge Trumpet Company. His father, general manager at the time, told Mark that this was the best way to learn the business -- from the ground up. And Mark has done exactly that.

After high school graduation, his real apprenticeship started. Under Zig's watchful eye, Mark first learned to silver plate horns. Next came final assembly work. Later came precision machining. All the time, Mark was learning all he could, gaining knowledge, acquiring and developing the skills and abilities demanded in musical instrument manufacturing.

In 1981 when his father launched Kanstul Musical Instruments Mark was excited about working for a company with the family name and immediately became a charter member of our work force. Since then, his father, always ready to pass on his experience and advice, has continued to mentor Mark.

Ironically, Mark has not been a very good musician himself, yet this challenging work has always stayed in his blood. He has learned both the science and the art of building horns, and he has learned from the best - from Zig, and through him, from Foster Reynolds and Elden Benge. We can't predict, but it would be no surprise if this remarkable chain passing along skills and knowledge continues into the future. In the year 2000, Mark's son Alex was born, and Alex has had music and musical instruments around him his whole life.

Although Mark's tasks, his responsibilities, and his titles have continued to change, his passion has always remained - the world of brass-wind instrument manufacturing, and the unique place that Kanstul Musical Instruments holds in that world.