From the Desk of John Devens – Founder and Executive Director
When Julia and I talked about opening a music store back in 1997, we wondered if we would be able to compete, given the mega-store trend. In fact, many people told us that it would be a real struggle. Some let us know is subtle ways, and some just said, “you’re nuts.” Well, we had a pretty good idea that our area needed a good music store. We are musicians and got tired of traveling for the supplies we needed. There were not very many private music teachers in the area offering instruction, so we thought we would give it a go.
Our little music store with a few music lessons grew into a large music school with a great concert series. With Anna Stange, we set up an extensive children’s music program. With Suzanna O’Shea, we added our music class for children with special needs. Tina Adachi brought her expertise to our concert series, and we soon began booking more great acts from diverse backgrounds across the globe, and created our World Arts Matinee Series for school groups. As soon as we saw a need for a program, we tried to fill the gap. We thought it would be better if our community dictated what our business should become. Soon our retail operation began to take a backseat to the music education and performance, and a decision had to be made.
The logical step was to give up ownership and become a not-for-profit institution. This makes it possible for us to apply for foundation, corporate, and government grants to carry out our mission. It did not take us long to decide to take this next step. We are glad we did, and very grateful for our very talented Board of Directors and a very supportive community. A match made in heaven.
- John Devens
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