Timothy Olsen, DMA
Kenan Professor of Organ
University of North Carolina
  School of the Arts
Associate Professor of Organ,
  Salem College
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
(405) 535-8124
timothy.jon.olsen@gmail.com

Timothy Olsen is the newly-appointed Kenan Professor of Organ at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC. He also teaches on the faculty of Salem College.

A native of Frost, Minnesota, Dr. Olsen began his study of the organ at the age of 13 with Sandra Krumholz of Fairmont, MN, and went on to further study with Peter Nygaard at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, where he received a Bachelor of Music degree in 1997. Dr. Olsen continued his study as a student of David Higgs at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where he earned the Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music Degrees in Organ Performance and Literature as well as a Master of Arts Degree in Music Theory Pedagogy. During his tenure at the Eastman School of Music, Dr. Olsen served as Professor Higgs’s teaching assistant, a teaching assistant in the theory department, and as a faculty member of the Eastman Community Education Division. He was for four years the Wanda L. Bass Chair of Organ at Oklahoma City University, and also has served on the faculty Ithaca College, and as sabbatical replacement at Binghamton University and Cornell University.

Dr. Olsen is the first-prize winner of the 2002 National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance sponsored by the American Guild of Organists. He has recorded a compact disc on the NAXOS label, and has been featured multiple times on Minnesota Public Radio’s Pipedreams.

Dr. Olsen has performed solo organ recitals in 23 states including Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (Portland, OR), Christ Church Cathedral (Lexington, KY), Broadway Baptist Church (Fort Worth, TX), Pasadena Presbyterian Church, and St. Thomas Church (New York City, NY) among many others.  He frequently presents masterclasses and workshops for universities, churches, and chapters of the American Guild of Organists, and will be a featured recitalist and workshop presenter at the 2009 Region VII AGO Convention in Albuquerque, NM. Dr. Olsen has also been featured as soloist with orchestras, and performs collaboratively in organ/trumpet recitals, organ duo recitals, and as organist for major choral works including Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem and Messe “Cum Jubilo.”