By Alexandra Bolton
Lars Kirmser, owner of Music Trader in Maple Valley, wanted to offer young aspiring musicians another place to learn.
“It’s a completely different environment now than it was 10 years ago where kids could follow a lot of paths to a much higher level within the public schools,” Kirmer said. “Today it’s pretty much a dead end for these kids.”
He opened Kirmser Academy of Music opened Sept. 3, paying homage to his parents in the name of the school. While the Music Trader continues to function in the same capacity of musical instrument repair and restoration, instrument rental and sale as well as musical supply, the academy is a nonprofit offering lessons to the community.
The Music Trader space, located next to El Caporal in Four Corners, now includes 10 studios and a large performance area for the use of the academy. An academy staff of mainly credentialed teachers will be instructing students in a variety of instruments including ethnic or unusual ones like the didgeridoo or harmonica. The academy is offering scholarships, free loan of instruments, and free lessons for kids who otherwise would not be able to get into a music program based on the needs of the family, but is essentially open to anyone interested in the study of a musical instrument.
“They’ll tell us what they want to do, and we’ll make sure we create the path for them to reach that goal,” Kirmser said of new students.
Kirmser followed his own unique path to his current level of involvement with music. He began in the United States Navy band after a tour in Vietnam before studying music education at Kansas State University. He worked in the repair industry and operated his own shop in Indiana before he was invited to Washington. In 1979, he began a two-year musical instrument repair program at Renton Technical College.
Kirmser semi-retired, at least from teaching, and opened the Music Trader with his wife in 1995. His personal history is in jazz music and the performance of the woodwinds, though he has taught most other instruments. Kirmser also plays with the Maple Valley Big Band.
Lamenting the loss of choral groups, bands, orchestras, and theory classes in public schools along with the ability to do musical productions with full pit student orchestras, Kirmser described the many layered impact of budget cuts on music. He estimated that where the Music Trader used to rent about 600 instruments in a year to students, they are now lucky to see demand for 100.
“The sad thing is that taking music lessons is becoming a kind of classist endeavor,” Kirmser said. “The kids who can afford to take music are kids that come from families where probably both parents are working, both parents are pulling in a fairly good income, and they can afford to spend some money on their kids. However, the kids that can’t afford to go take lessons privately, the kids that go to public schools where they are not offered programs, those are the kids that have been left to drop through the cracks. Those are the kids that we want to get in here and involved in whatever way or whatever capacity that we can.”
To this end, Kirmser also envisions the start up of more specialized musical groups sponsored by the academy. For example, there will eventually be a preschool violin Suzuki method class and maybe a music therapy class for people with physical limitations to playing a musical instrument.
Not only is music enjoyable but, as Kirmser asserted, there is plenty of research supporting the cognitive, behavioral, and other benefits of the study of music, especially when starting at a young age.
The Kirmser Academy of Music grows daily as it adds teachers and students daily. Kirmser welcomes the public to come in for a free tour.
“As our banner says out there, our No. 1 priority is your mastery of music,” Kirmser said. “Whatever level a kid wants to come in, and whatever level they want to reach, we’re ready to get them there. We see our mission pretty clearly.”
