Join me for After Hours Alaska at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6, on KRBD public radio in Ketchikan, Alaska, as I’m joined in conversation with Ketchikan’s own music teacher Roy McPherson.

Roy has been a force of music education in Ketchikan since 1972. He taught high school band and choir and was the school district’s music coordinator for 10 years (1972-82). After retiring from teaching in 1982, Roy left Ketchikan for a time but couldn’t stay away for long. With his wife, trombone player Tina McPherson, he opened a treasured music store in 1987, McPherson Music, which has been a musical haven for much of the community.

McPherson Music, which closed in 2017, was a place for private lessons, classes (such as Discovering Music Fundamentals), and was the home of the Soundwaves youth jazz band and later the Windjammers youth-adult jazz band (now all adults). When the store closed, they moved some of the store to their home, including its large mural by David Rubin.

Roy was inducted into the Alaska High School Hall of Fame in 2010. He also was inducted into the Alaska Music Educators Hall of Fame in 1986. Be sure to tune in and be inspired.

Click this link to go to an article about McPherson Music. Click this link to read an article about his induction into the Alaska High School Hall of Fame. Click this link to go to a Facebook page about Roy McPherson. Click this link to listen to a recording of the April 6 interview.