We’re saddened to report that Korg USA president Michael “Mike” Kovins passed away on May 2, 2006 at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital in Manhattan, New York following a long battle with leukemia. Kovins is survived by his wife of 29 years, Katherine. A private service was held on Long Island and the family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, a donation in Mike’s memory be made to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (www.leukemia.org). Kovins joined Unicord in 1980 and was promoted in 1984 to vice president of marketing. When Korg USA was founded in 1985, Mike became executive vice president. In 1994 he was promoted to president, a position he held until his passing. During his tenure there, Korg produced such classics as the Polysix, Mono/Poly, GT-6 Tuner, and Marshall JCM800 Series. He later went on to become one of the founding members of Korg USA, and as executive vice president led the introduction of the industry’s largest selling music workstation, the Korg M1 (the best-selling synth in history), the TRITON and most recently, the Korg OASYS.
Kovins was a strong advocate and supporter of music education. He was instrumental in creating Korg’s SoundTree educational division, and was founder and executive committee member of TI:ME, Technology Institute for Music Educators. He was a recipient of Berklee College of Music’s Golden Clef award for Lifetime Commitment to Music Education, the Julia E. Crane International Medallion for Lifetime Achievement in the Music Products Industry, and the Distinguished Alumnus Award 2006 of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami for his outstanding achievement in the music industry. Mike was also on the Board of Directors of Five Towns College and was a past Board Member of NAMM. At the time of his passing Mike was the President of IAEKM, International Association of Electronic Keyboard Manufacturers, and on the Board of Directors of AMC, the American Music Conference.
Our sincerest condolences to his family, all our friends at Korg, and his friends around the world.