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The Russ Larsen Scholarship is presented to one or more Walla Walla High School Seniors who plan to major or minor in music in college. The funds for this scholarship are generated by the Walla Walla High School Holiday Concert admissions. Russ Larsen was the Walla Walla High School Band Director and Music Coordinator for the School district from 1950 – 1973. He was a terrific teacher, and incredibly talented musician, as well as a caring, self-less individual. In our selection each year, the music staff strives to choose young people who exemplify some of Russ Larsen’s characteristics.
Our 2024-2025 recipients are Jordan Fox, Logan Sanders, & Jazz Zanger. Jordan, Logan, & Jazz will all receive a $500 scholarship. Jordan will attend St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Logan and Jazz will both be attending Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington.
Russell W. Larsen was born April 6, 1914, in Spokane to Albert & Florence Smith Larsen. He moved with his parents to Walla Walla in 1925, graduated from Walla Walla High School in 1932 and from Eastern Washington College of Education in 1938. He attended the Eastman School of Music and earned a Master of Arts degree from the State College of Washington (WSU) in 1941. During the 1950’s, Larsen studied music at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Larsen was an officer in the US Army 3rd mortar battalion in Europe during World War II. He was also a member of an Army band, stationed at Geiger Field, Spokane. On April 1, 1944, he married Bertha Butler while stationed in Gadsden, AL.
An educator for more than 40 years, Larsen was a principal and teacher at Touchet Grade School from 1935 to 1937. He later taught at Castle Rock and was music supervisor at Tekoa, WA. He taught music at Gadsden, AL, where he developed a nationally recognized 80-piece high school marching band and served as a state music adjudicator.
Returning to Walla Walla in 1949, Larsen was appointed supervisor of music for the Walla Walla School District and headed a band program recognized for its excellence at the Northwest and national levels. In three different years, Larsen’s bands were selected to perform for state and regional music educators’ conferences, including an appearance at Missoula, MT, where the audience gave the band a standing ovation. Larsen and his band were honored for outstanding achievement in 1968 by the Walla Walla Area Chamber of Commerce, and his musical organization was hailed as “one of the nation’s finest” in a music educators’ magazine of the early 1970’s.
He was presented with a motorcycle by his band students upon his retirement in 1974 from the Walla Walla School District. He did continue private instrumental instruction, however, and taught bands at Whitman College and DeSales Junior Senior High School on a part time basis. Golfing was a principal hobby.
Larsen was a long time member of the Walla Walla Community Concert Association and served as president of the board for three years. He had been a member of the state advisory board for the Cultural Enrichment Program and of the Washington State Interschool Activities Association. He served as president of the Southeastern Washington Music Educators Association and was a member of Phi Mu Alpha music society. He played clarinet with the Walla Walla Symphony.
Larsen was a member of the Retired Teachers Association and the Walla Walla Elks and Eagles lodges. He attended the White Temple First Baptist Church, where he had been a choir director and small ensemble leader.
When Larsen died in 1984 a memorial scholarship was established in his name. Each spring graduating seniors are invited to apply. They must have been successfully enrolled in the high school music program with intentions of majoring or minoring in music at college.
