By HENRY COLT
Sentinel Staff Writer
Drew Larson was driving through Pink Mountain, British Columbia, with his mother, his brother, his trombone, his clarinet, his baritone, his ukulele, his keyboard, three violins, five trumpets, and 57 bottles of his favorite spices when he got a call from Ben White.
The Blatchley Middle School principal wanted to know whether Larson would like to be the school’s new music teacher — and also whether Larson could begin work that Thursday.
That he still had 800 miles of driving and 150 miles of ferry-riding to go and wouldn’t be able to start until Monday didn’t bother the 24-year-old Minnesotan, who knew he had a legitimate shot at the position and was moving to Sitka regardless.
“I felt relieved and excited, as if this weight had been lifted,” Larson said Tuesday, recalling the moment he got White’s call. But he had backup plans if he didn’t get the Blatchley position: working as a barista or opening a teaching studio for brass players.
Larson was lured to Sitka by two relatively sunlit summers he spent here teaching at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp.
Now it’s the dead of winter. Today, the sun will be up for a whopping six hours and 42 minutes, and tonight at 7 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center, Larson will direct his first Sitka performance: the Blatchley Middle School Winter Concert.
“I feel like my students are ready to give a great performance. They’ve worked really hard—especially in the last few weeks—to get where they’re at. And I’m excited to show off their progress,” Larson told the Sentinel the evening before the concert.
“I’m also nervous,” he said. “This is my first concert in Sitka, so being in the public eye is always a little nerve-racking.”
Drew Larson, the new Blatchley Middle School music director, leads a rehearsal in the Performing Arts Center this morning. The middle school will be presenting their winter concert 7 p.m. tonight. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
It won’t be for lack of rehearsal time, however.
On a recent night, one of Larson’s housemates awoke to the sound of Larson giving rehearsal instructions to a nonexistent band. The concerned housemate found Larson sitting upright in bed muttering something about time signatures and waving his arms as if conducting.
The impromptu rehearsal (of which the conductor has no recollection) indicates Larson’s commitment, and Principal White also was impressed.
White, who has been helping Larson in his final preparations for the concert, called Larson a “young, energetic teacher who was very quickly able to establish rapport with the kids.” White also spoke of an unofficial “litmus test” — the Alaska Day Parade — which drew overwhelmingly positive comments from the public about “that new guy!” and his marching band.
Larson is a 2017 graduate of St. Olaf College in Northfield Minnesota, with a degree in music education. He was teaching music at a middle school in Hayfield, Minnesota, before coming to Blatchley.
Assistant Principal Mathew Potter said, “Drew came in on such short notice and had to take over an incredibly successful program — but I think he’s hit it out of the park so far.” (Potter also said Larson’s students have started calling their teacher “The Musical Jesus,” an homage to both Larson’s shoulder-length hair and his musical ability.)
A member of the band provided an insight on Larson’s teaching style.
“He’s really patient with us. If we’re having issues, he’ll stop and make sure we get it right before moving on. I think he cares a lot about the band,” said Rie Christianson, an eighth grader who plays French horn in “Band 1.” Christianson will move on to high school next year, which means that Larson’s first Blatchley Winter Concert will also be Christianson’s last.
The event will feature performances by the more than 150 students in Band 1, Band 2, Jazz Band 1, Jazz Band 2, Choir, and Guitar Class. Hank Moore, an accomplished player and teacher, will accompany the guitar class.
Larson said he wants to expose his students to “the widest breadth of styles and types of music.” He said to keep an ear out for Edvard Grieg’s “March of the Trolls,” a Norwegian song about “trolls coming down from their snowy mountains and fjords to wreak havoc on the townspeople.” Larson, who himself is of Norwegian descent, said that this scene reminds him of winter in Sitka.
But he said the song he likes to listen to when he’s not teaching reminds him of a different season, the season that first lured him to Alaska.
“Julep, by the Punch Brothers—it’s about enjoying a nice summer evening on the porch.”
