The Chinook School of Music started small – just two piano instructors looking for studio space to teach. “One of our students’ parents knew of a space in Marda Loop,” says Carrie Kalmykov, who studied at the University of Brandon in Manitoba. “We rented the space and started without a business plan, without any idea what we were in for.” Carrie and her business partner Robert Motchalov - who came from Russia and got his bachelor and masters degrees in music from UVic and Indiana University, respectively - soon realized they needed some help to pay the rent, so they hired three more teachers and the business was on its way.
That was in 2002, and Chinook School of Music has consistently grown and now instructs a roster of more than 1,300 students. Initially offering piano instruction, they expanded their class selection to include guitar, choir, drums, traditional string instruments and even non-traditional instruments like the ukulele. The duo oversees 49 contracted teachers, and they have increased their studio space twice to accommodate staff and students as well as offering in-home sessions. “We started off with five teachers and 120 students. We really had no idea where this business was going or where it would take us. The first few years we would ask ourselves the question ‘Are we extremely passionate, or are we just dumb?’” Carrie says with a laugh, recalling those hectic first few years. “We persevered. We were so passionate about what we were doing. The deeper we got, the more possibilities we saw for the future.”
