MUSIC ROOM
The world’s best classical musicians love to play in the home of Jan and Jean Narveson
Jan Narveson climbs the narrow stairs in his Victorian-era home to the Music Room, a unique and lively corner of this region’s music scene that is known around the globe.
Narveson is the founder and energy behind the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society.
On the way up the stairs, the lanky philosopher passes a framed picture of himself receiving the Order of Canada from then-Governor General Adrienne Clarkson. He received Canada’s highest civilian award in 2003 for his work with the Chamber Music Society and the books he’s published on philosophy.
Recently the 82-year-old ardent lover of classical music, who is also professor emeritus from the University of Waterloo’s philosophy department, has wondered how much longer he will be mounting the stairs before a concert.
Narveson is losing his hearing.
“It is very, very terrible,” he says. “I am going to start writing to top medical people to see if anyone can do anything about this condition.”
He has Meniere’s disease, a disorder of the inner ear that can make beautiful music sound worse than fingernails on chalkboards.
“The worst of it is pitch insecurity, you don’t hear music at the pitch it is being played,” says Narveson.