They’re out, but the music will play on
Pedersen’s Band & Orchestra, a Burbank fixture for 45 years, sells to buyer who’ll keep it noteworthy.
A small music shop opened 45 years ago on Burbank Boulevard. Its owner — musical instrument repairman John Pedersen, who had come to California to work in a trumpet factory — called it Pedersen’s Band & Orchestra. The year was 1971. This summer, Pedersen sold the store, which he ran with his wife, Nedra. Their goal, after helping the store’s new owner, San Diego-based Bertrand Music, settle in, is to have a home in the mountains and fix instruments for a music academy from time to time.
“The happiest part is seeing our store live on,” John Pedersen said during an interview at the store at 2618 Burbank Blvd. “The name will stay the same. The sign on the front is not going to change. For us to have simply liquidated and not leave a store here would’ve broken our hearts. We have so many wonderful customers and music teachers.”
Some of Pedersen’s clients include private and parochial schools as well as the Los Angeles Unified and Burbank Unified school districts.
Over the years, he’s fixed horns, drums and string instruments. He opened for retail sales in 1979 and added music instruction. From teaching kids the trombone to serving top musicians on NBC’s “The Tonight Show” and ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars,” Pedersen’s has been part of Burbank’s music scene. Each memory lingers. “We would go to Burbank Philharmonic concerts, set up instruments on tables in the auditorium or on the Fourth of July at the Starlight Bowl, and let kids come and try the instruments to give them a chance to see what playing music is all about,” John Pedersen said.
“We had long lines of children waiting to play the flute. We had so much fun.”
“Learning to play a musical instrument is such a positive thing for a child,” said Nedra Pedersen, who played French horn in her high school and college bands. “It helps kids get along with others and it helps with dexterity.”
John Pedersen, a drum major in high school, said he’s noticed that children who play an instrument tend to do better in school, especially in math. He said they often applied what they learned to their work.
“Many of the people we’ve helped end up in some type of a music career, even if not as a performer,” he said. “People go into arranging, composing and becoming teachers or working for instrument manufacturers.”
Pedersen’s Band & Orchestra’s new owner, John Bertrand of Bertrand Music, said he observed that teaching is the store’s core.
“The Pedersen’s goal is to serve music programs in local schools,” Bertrand said. “That’s also my focus: band and orchestra instruments, helping kids get started in music and helping band directors.”
Bertrand taught band and orchestra in public schools for 15 years before opening a store in San Bernardino in 1983.
Today, with several stores in Southern California, he said he still sees himself as an educator.
Selling Pedersen’s to a former band director brings the Pedersens back to the premise of their center for learning, playing and repairing instruments: the music they cherish.
“I remember hearing Brahms’ Second Symphony in high school, and it changed my life,” John Pedersen said.
“I could not imagine anything so beautiful could ever be written. If I were stranded on a desert island and I only had one piece of music to listen to, it would be Brahms’ Second Symphony. It’s my favorite.”
After they met in a computer class at L.A. Valley College, Pedersen took his future wife to the music store on their first date. They later learned that both are fans of Tchaikovsky. Today, their daughter, Amber, teaches cello, violin and viola at Pedersen’s Band & Orchestra.
Knowing that she’ll continue to teach at the store that bears the family name makes her parents proud.
“The relationships [we’ve developed] over the years is the best part,” John Pedersen said.
“We’ve made a lot of friends. That part I will miss. We really have had a wonderful life here.”
‘Many of the people we’ve helped end up in some type of a music career, even if not as a performer.’ — John Pedersen, who opened his Burbank music store in 1971