Dennis M. Houlihan

Dennis Houlihan, former president and CEO of the Roland Corporation,  assumed the responsibilities of  chairman of Roland U.S. in 2010 after 18 successful years at Roland. He  also continued in his role as a member of  the board of directors of Roland Japan. Dennis had been with Roland as  president since 1993.  Additionally Mr. Houlihan held the position of  president of Rodgers Musical Instruments for several years while at  Roland also serving as it’s president and CEO (Rodgers is a wholly owned  subsidiary of Roland Corp).  Mr. Houlihan was the first manufacturer representative to also be elected as Chairman and CEO  of NAMM (National  Association of Music Merchants).

Mr. Houlihan grew up in the Fresno California area and has lived and worked  in cities around the world including the Washington DC area, greater Los Angeles area, New York City area and in London, England. 

Mr. Houlihan is legendary for his courteous,  extremely effective and  highly intelligent style of management, and is held in the highest  regard industry-wide to this day.  As stated by one well known industry  insider, ” Dennis’ evident and brilliant talent and seemingly innate  ability to make every person feel like “they’re the most important  person in the room” has no doubt assisted him, amongst many other  factors,  in growing Roland to the worlds largest and leading electronic  musical instrument company and the second largest musical instrument  company in the world overall.  To his credit,  Dennis has  still somehow  managed to maintain an impeccable reputation, which unfortunately is an  increasingly rare trait amongst CEO’s in recent years.  Roland owes  much of their success to this very capable leader and innovative team  builder.”

Houlihan  succeeded Ikutaro Kakehashi, founder and special consultant  of Roland Japan, who  resigned from his more recent  roles as chairman and  director of Roland U.S.

As a true believer, leader and participant in the launch and growth  of the practice of Music and Wellness worldwide, Mr. Houlihan has  graciously extended his invaluable expertise to the PLAY MUSIC-ENJOY  LIFE! program. The PLAY MUSIC-ENJOY LIFE! team is very grateful and  extremely fortunate to have Mr. Houlihan as an advisor and friend.

Mr Houlihan still travels the world meeting up with friends and former colleagues and also as a board member of several organizations. When not traveling, Mr. Houlihan resides in the greater Los Angeles area. 

-