Tom Ridenour, a native of Kentucky, received his Bachelor's Degree in performance from Murray State University and his Master's degree in clarinet performance from Yale University, graduating with honors from both institutions. Tom taught for more than a decade on the clarinet faculties of Wesleyan University, Hartt College, and the University of Connecticut. During that time he also was active as a chamber musician, soloist and recording artist in the New York, New England area. Tom toured as soloist with the New England String Quartet, gave chamber music and solo broad casts on both Hartford and Boston public radio, and in 1984 Tom gave the North American premiere of Robert Muczynski's Time Pieces for clarinet and piano with pianist Alan Lurie at SUNY Buffalo.

In 1986 Tom moved to Florida where he established his own clarinet specialty business while continuing to actively perform in both chamber music and orchestral settings. From 1989 to 1997 Tom served as manager of the Woodwind Company at Leblanc Corporation where he participated in a number of activities, including the creation of new products, clarinet design, giving educational work shops, and working with artists.

In 1997 Tom moved his family to Duncanville, Texas where he resumed his previous work in Ridenour Clarinet Products, his business specializing in artist hand made mouthpieces and clarinet acoustical and mechanical work.

Tom Ridenour began mouthpiece making in 1978 with the instruction of Everit Matson and Ken Lagace. Over the years he perfected his own thinking about mouthpieces and clarinet acoustics by working with some of the finest players in the world. Tom's reputation for craftsmanship and knowledge finally lead to him being appointed manager of the woodwind company at G. Leblanc Corp., where he worked on mouthpieces design with clarinet legends such as Larry Combs and Robert Marcellus. Tom brings a lifetime of knowledge and skill into each artist mouthpiece he finishes to serve clarinetists and saxophonists around the world. Today, there are many new mouthpieces on the market, lines of "boutique" mouthpieces have increased considerably, and the proverbial "flavor of the month." What is the difference between Ridenour Artist Mouthpieces and many of the "boutique" products that have sprung up? In a word, craftsmanship. In plain language, we do more than put our name on the mouthpiece, quadruple (or more) the price and ship it to the unwitting, gullible and image driven. We put the quarter of a century of experience, knowledge, artistry and skill into voicing and finishing mouthpieces that play with unique qualities, sculpting and refining each one into something more than just a mechanically correct mouthpiece; we make it artistically satisfying.