>> Marc Jenkins
Larsen Music began out of John Larsen’s Saanich home nearly 20 years ago. There was at the time a huge shortage of available rental instruments for band students on Vancouver Island. John just couldn’t stand the idea of kids wanting to play music not having access to instruments to play. So he cashed in his savings to buy a bunch of saxes and flutes, and started renting them out!
John is now looking forward to retirement knowing he has had a positive impact on the community.
Larsen Music has been a fixture on Cook Street for the better part of those 20 years and has been a hub of the Victoria music community. It has always been John’s intent to have a neighborhood feeling; customers are meant to feel that they have entered the home of a friend when walking in the door.
John and Larsen Music have donated time, resources and financial support to countless school fundraisers, community associations and music events. John was a key player in saving Victoria public school music programs in 2004 when they were under serious threat – you can still see the occasional ‘Please Note – Schools Need Music!’ bumper sticker around town. A donation of 90! string instruments to the Greater Victoria School Board was made in 2008 to secure the future of the then-suffering string program.
John’s sincere hope is that a driven and community-minded person or team of people buy the business and carry on his work. The need for a music store that cares about and for the people of Vancouver Island is great. John’s retirement would be that much sweeter if his legacy lived on.
