Organ faculty Timothy Olsen approaches teaching students from an holistic approach of body awareness and healthful technique, while also guiding them in preparing musical performances through detailed score analysis and connecting the ear to the technical performance of the music. Olsen finds an individual approach to each student and how he or she learns the best.
Credentials
- Kenan Professor of Organ, UNC School of the Arts
- Associate Professor of Organ, Salem College
- Cantor (Organist/Music Director), Augsburg Lutheran Church, Winston-Salem
- 15 years of college-level teaching
- Over 20 years of professional church music experience
- Numerous performances and prizes
- Three professional albums
- Panelist on national pedagogy and AGO conventions
- Led the UNCSA organ studio in a study trip to England, December 2014, and Leipzig, Germany, May 2018
Career Highlights
- First Prize Winner - 2002 American Guild or Organists National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance (NYACOP); album recording and two-year concert management contract
- Competitor/Semifinalist – Norddeutscher Rundfunk Schnitger Competition, Germany, 2000
- Regional AGO Convention presenter/recitalist in 2009, 2011
- Organist for choir residencies: Ely Cathedral, 2007; Bristol Cathedral, 2011; St. Paul’s Cathedral (Dublin), 2016
- Leading the UNCSA organ studio in a study trip to England, December 2014
Awards, Recognitions and Honors
- First Prize Winner, AGO National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance, 2002
- Finalist, Poister National Organ Competition, 1998 and 2001
- Finalist, John Rodland Memorial Organ Competition
- Dedicatory recitals for seven new/renovated organs
- Member of Pi Kappa Lambda
Organizations
- American Guild of Organists
- Organ Historical Society
- Royal School of Church Music
Education
D.M.A. Organ Performance and LiteratureEastman School of Music
M.A. Theory PedagogyEastman School of Music
M.M. Organ Performance and LiteratureEastman School of Music
B.M. Organ PerformanceConcordia College
