An active performer, pedagogue, and church musician, Timothy Olsen is the Kenan Professor of Organ at the UNC School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC, where he teaches a joint studio of high school, undergraduate, and graduate organ students. He also serves on the faculty of Salem College. Dr. Olsen concurrently serves as Cantor at Augsburg Lutheran Church in Winston-Salem where he oversees a thriving music program. 

Dr. Olsen maintains an active performance schedule both as a solo organist, as well as a collaborative artist. He frequently performs with trumpeter Judith Saxton, including a recently released CD, Landfall. He has performed recitals at venues in 30 states throughout the US, and has been featured as a soloist with orchestras, as well as organist for major choral works including Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem and Messe “Cum Jubilo,” Théodore Dubois’s The Seven Last Words of Christ, and Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem. 

Dr. Olsen has recorded two compact discs on the Raven label, and has been featured multiple times on American Public Media’s Pipedreams, WXXI’s With Heart and Voice, and WCPE’s Great Sacred Music. He is the first-prize winner of the 2002 National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance sponsored by the AGO.

A native of Frost, Minnesota, Dr. Olsen attended Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, and completed graduate degrees at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. He has served posts at Oklahoma City University, Ithaca College, and as sabbatical replacement at Binghamton University and Cornell University. 

www.timothyolsenorganist.com