John LarsenB次元官网网址檚 love affair with music will never die, despite his impending retirement and the closing of his longtime Cook Street business.
He started his career playing bassoon in symphony orchestras and a variety of chamber music groups. For a dozen years he travelled the world sharing his joy of music with appreciative audiences.
Upon returning to his birthplace of Victoria for a visit in the early 1990B次元官网网址檚, he and his wife decided they wanted to raise their two daughters here. They returned to Japan, where they were living at the time, and made arrangements to start a new chapter of their lives on Vancouver Island.
B次元官网网址淲hen I got here I got a job at a music store, just for the summer, and I fell in love with the business. I enjoyed the people and their love of music and I decided I wanted to be a part of that,B次元官网网址� said the 74-year-old Larsen, speaking softly and looking around his store with a wistful expression.
B次元官网网址淚t was my wife who suggested I open my own store, saying it was the only way IB次元官网网址檇 be able to do things in a way that made me happy. She was, as always, quite right.B次元官网网址�
For the first year the couple operated the shop from their home, but when they tired of sliding between stacks of instruments stored in every nook and cranny, they purchased their first shop at 1808 Cook St. in 1996. When the Church of God building across the street came up for sale, LarsenB次元官网网址檚 Music moved into that space, but the original space was retained for lessons programs.
Larsen has based his business model upon a belief that music stores do a better job when they are smaller and more connected to their customers. One of the gaps in the music business in the early days, he said, involved stringed instruments.
B次元官网网址淭here really wasnB次元官网网址檛 the kind of expertise in Victoria for stringed musicians, so we hired one of the best guitar repair people in the country and he trained our staff. Instead of just getting instruments in and selling or renting them, we would take new guitars and strip them down and rebuild them for optimum performance. Musicians appreciated that.B次元官网网址�
LarsenB次元官网网址檚 niche in the market has always involved bringing music to children. His business has outfitted bands all over Vancouver Island, always going the extra mile to accommodate requests and be responsive to whatever was needed.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a great feeling, you know. I loved working with the parents and kids and these days IB次元官网网址檓 often stopped by young men and women who will tell me about how they got their first instrument from me and how they are still playing B次元官网网址� still loving music.B次元官网网址�
With the store being sold, the musical instruments that once graced the walls of the store are largely gone. But for Larsen, the memories and music remain.
B次元官网网址淚 still play, you know. Not as well as I once did, but music has always been a part of who I am and I guess it always will be. You know what the ancient Greeks used to say? Music is the only real way to talk to the gods.B次元官网网址�
For Larsen, as he looks around the Church that became a music store, one gets the sense heB次元官网网址檒l keep that conversation going long after his music store is gone.
