Schools

Vic Larsen's One Man Junk Band a Teach-In, Teachable Moment (VIDEO)

The Great American Teach-In brings Vic Larsen and his One Man Junk Band to the Greater Brandon community of Seffner, where he invites students and teachers to use their imagination, creativity and homegrown instruments to create joyful music.

Start with a sound, as rude and as crude at it might be, and work to refine it, in concert with others, to make melody out of discord.

Call it a teachable moment for the students at Seffner Elementary School, as the Great American Teach-In on Nov. 17 brought to their multipurpose room Vic Larsen and his One-Man Junk Band.

A music educator by trade, Larsen has been anything but silent since his retirement from the Hillsborough County School District, where he taught music at Lincoln Elementary, Marshall Middle and East Bay High schools.

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Growing up in Key West, Larsen began his musical career with the Key West High School Fighting Conch Band, where he was drum major for two years. He has since been inducted into the Miami University Hall of Fame for musical attainment. Director of the Lakeland Concert Band, Larsen as well founded and directed the American Drum Major Academy and presently plays bass trombone for the Imperial Symphony Orchestra in Lakeland.

The Arts Council of Hillsborough County got wind of Larsen and hires him to perform for students in elementary school, for such events as honor roll and performance recognitions.

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As Larsen put it: “I come in and I’m their present.”

His message rings especially timely during the holiday season: Use your imagination and creativity to create the things that bring you joy.

“When I was a kid I made all of my own toys,” Larsen said in an interview between shows Nov. 17 at Seffner Elementary School, just east of the Brandon Family YMCA on Kingsway Road. “Kids need to be more creative, to use their own talents, rather than rely on other people to make things for them.”

Showing beats telling, which is why Larsen brings with him to his shows such things as trash cans for drums, wires for bugles and pans for a makeshift xylophone.

He plays for students and invites them, and their teachers, to play with him on stage.

The overarching goal?

“Getting them involved," Larsen said, "and having a good time with music.”


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