Avendis Zildjian Co. of Massachusetts has purchased the Illinois-based Mike Balter Mallet Co. and will move its production into the Newport factory of Vic Firth Co., another Zildjian-owned company.

"I had no intentions of getting into a business," Firth told MSNBC. "It was simply to supply a stick that was better than what was available. But I took it to a different height, that demanded the ...

Everett “Vic” Firth, a longtime timpanist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra who became renowned among drummers of all stripes as a manufacturer of drumsticks, died July 26 at his home in Boston. He ...