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The American Jazz and Classical pianist, organist, composer and choral conductor, Eric Olsen, obtained his Bachelor of Music degree with High Distinction in Piano Performance; Organ Minor from Syracuse University (1979-1983); and his Master of Music degrees in both Piano Performance and Jazz Studies from Indiana University Bloomington (1986-1992).
Eric Olsen has been active as a freelance Classical and Jazz Pianist since 1983. He served as Music Director and Organist at Union Congregational Church in Montclair, New Jersey from 2003 to June 2021. As Music Director, he led the Sanctuary Choir, Youth Choir, jazz band, and Union Orchestra. A prolific composer as well as instrumentalist, he wrote for all the ensembles he directed. His music spanned many genres and styles from traditional classical to gospel, jazz, and contemporary styles. He has conducted many staples of the classical choral literature, and leads a jazz ensemble in his own unique arrangements of hymns and original works for jazz services.
In the field of education, Eric Olsen has served as Adjunct Faculty member at Montclair State University since September 1995. Adjunct Professor of Music Theory levels I-IV, Ear Training and Sight-Singing levels I-IV, and Keyboard Harmony levels I-II. Mr. Olsen incorporates many musical styles in his Keyboard Harmony classes, challenging the students with every aspect of important keyboard skills. He is also an Adjunct Faculty member at Caldwell University, and a member of the Piano Faculty at the Wharton Music Center in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey (since 1995).
Eric Olsen is “an expert in the art of musical transfiguration” (Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz.com), and has “created his own form of classic jazz” (Joe Lang, Jersey Jazz). His career is marked by his unique ability to re-imagine familiar melodies so that they are “truly born anew” (Bilawsky). His latest album "Sea Changes" (Blujazz Label), features the Eric Olsen ReVision Quartet, including veteran jazz musicians Don Braden on saxophones, Ratzo Harris on bass, and Tim Horner on drums. Jazz Times magazine rated Sea Changes “Best Jazz Arrangements of 2015”, calling it “a stunning rainbow bridge between the worlds of Classical and Jazz” (Travis Rogers). His album "Dyad Plays Puccini" (Ringwood Label) earned a place as one of the top 50 Jazz CD's of 2013 from Jazz Times magazine, and was praised as “perhaps the most amazing transformation of cultural enlightenment in the last quarter century” (Brent Black, CriticalJazz.com).
Eric Olsen has also collaborated with opera singer Kevin Maynor on the Grammy nominated "Black Art Song" in 2000, and has collaborated with a host of notable classical and jazz musicians, and his discography includes classical recordings as a soloist, choral music conductor, and a CD for meditation. Eric Olsen has performed at jazz festivals, with symphony orchestras, and overseas in France, Germany, India, New Zealand, Taiwan, and Fiji. He has composed works for classical and jazz ensembles from chamber groups to full orchestra. |
