About FirstChair Apps
FirstChair Apps is built by musicians, for musicians. We got tired of spreadsheets, email chains and lost sheet music, so we built the tools we always wished we had.
Community music runs on volunteers. The person keeping the roster is usually also playing second clarinet, the attendance sheet is usually a spreadsheet nobody else can find, and the music teacher chasing practice logs is doing it by text message on a Sunday night. Those are the people we build for, and we price it so a community group can actually say yes.
Who we are
A small team of musicians who decided to fix the tools.
"We've both played in community orchestras for years. Between the scheduling headaches, shared Google Sheets that nobody could find, and PDFs emailed at midnight before rehearsal, we knew there had to be a better way. So we built it."
Bob Jackman
Co-Founder
Bob Jackman built his career at the intersection of music and technology. He holds a bachelor's in trumpet performance and music education from Southern Utah University and a master's in music education from the University of Utah, and spent four years teaching middle school instrumental music in the Jordan School District before co-founding and directing the Saratoga Springs Community Orchestra. For the past 17 years he's applied that same problem-solving instinct in education and SaaS, helping organizations put technology to work: expertise now aimed at building tools for musicians.
Darren Smith
Co-Founder
Clarinetist and software engineer with over 30 years building products people actually use. Music has always been his first love, and he's spent the last few years playing in his own local community orchestra, now putting both passions together to give community music groups the tools they deserve.
What we make
- Ensemble is management software for community orchestras, bands and choirs.
- Practice Tracker is practice logging for music teachers and their students.