Lamorinda Music
Colleen and John McCormick
81 Lafayette Circle ~ 925-385-0963
They met in the Cal Marching Band. Both were playing the Alto Sax, and it was love at the first F#. So, of course, they opened a music store. John and Colleen McCormick, long-time residents of Happy Valley, have also played an important part in our wider community in a multitude of ways.
Colleen served as the science chair of LPIE (known as LASF then), coordinating a team of teachers who led classes in Lafayette Schools to expand and broaden our students’ understanding of the world around them. In 2009, she founded Lamorinda Music in a small space next to a health club near La Fiesta Square to support musicians in our area.
In 2018, John retired from his engineering work in the tech world and joined Colleen in managing and expanding the store. In his “free time,” he pursued a master’s degree in history from Harvard and turned his thesis into a book on the role of Chinese laborers in establishing Napa Valley (he grew up in Napa) from 1870-1900. His book has been turned into a documentary which is being adapted for use in elementary school curriculum in Napa.
Both McCormicks have served on the Board of Directors of the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce. John is currently (as of 2025) Lafayette’s Vice Mayor, the first local downtown business owner to serve on the Council. You might also recognize him from his band, California Repercussions, composed of former Cal, Stanford, and UC Davis marching band musicians who often perform at the Lafayette Art and Wine festival.
Today, Lamorinda Music has grown to become the East Bay’s pre-eminent music store, especially as Campana Music in Lafayette and Best Music in Oakland have closed their doors. The space has expanded twice since opening to include fourteen private lesson studios, a recital performance space, a dance studio and multiple well-decorated “waiting rooms” where students and families can relax or do homework as they prepare to play the flute, practice the violin, or learn guitar chords. You can even sit out on a lovely patio overlooking the creek. As I interviewed John, the scales of a vocal practice soared overhead.
A large portion of the store’s business is instrument rental and repair. They have over 1,500 band and orchestra instruments, guitars, and digital pianos out on rent at any given time. There are four full-time repair technicians on staff. Individual teachers lease the studios which are bustling especially in the afternoons and early evenings. A large free parking lot for customers is a welcome sight in downtown.
And when you enter Lamorinda Music, you are greeted by smiling and friendly musicians of all kinds, a friendly shop dog, and the nicest local staff in town.