Curtis Olson

ABOUT

Curtis Olson retired as Professor of Trombone and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies in the College of Music in 2013. He holds degrees from Bemidji State University and the Eastman School of Music and taught music in Minnesota before joining MSU in 1976. His responsibilities included teaching trombone at the undergraduate and graduate levels, coaching trombone quartets, directing the trombone choir, and performing with the faculty brass quintet. Professor Olson has performed with the Detroit Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, and St. Paul Civic Orchestras, and has been a guest soloist with military bands in Washington, D.C. He recorded with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra on the Columbia Masterworks label and with the MSU Symphonic Band on the Mark Record label. He presented clinics and recitals at many colleges and conservatories throughout the United States. In 1992 and 1996, Professor Olson performed and conducted master classes at the International Music Festival in Brasilia, Brazil; in 2001 and 2010 he was a faculty member for the Brazilian Trombone Festival. As a composer of brass works, he has written numerous pieces for various solo instruments with piano or synthesizer accompaniment. Professor Olson received the Paul Varg Award for Excellence in Teaching from MSU’s College of Arts and Letters in 2000, the Outstanding Alumni Award from Bemidji State University in 2002, and the Neil Humfeld Award for Teaching Excellence from the International Trombone Association in 2002.