Assistant Professor of Music

Office/Department: Music, Department of

Location: Bangsberg Hall 318

Phone: (218) 755-3941

Box #: 16

Email: eric.olson.2@bemidjistate.edu
Eric Olson, (DMA, MBA) is an Assistant Professor of Music at Bemidji State University (BSU), where he teaches Violin and serves as Coordinator of the String Area, Director of the Bemidji Chamber Orchestra, Coordinator of Scholarship/ Recruitment, and Director of New Graduate Music Programming. In addition to his duties at BSU, Mr. Olson maintains an active performance schedule and private violin/viola studio, and serves as the Executive Director of the Minneapolis Pops Orchestra.
Before assuming his current positions, Mr. Olson was Lecturer/Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Minnesota (Morris, MN) where he taught violin/viola lessons, music courses, and served as Director of the Morris Chamber Orchestra. Additionally, for three years Mr. Olson was Director of the Pre-Conservatory Program at Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Faribault, MN where he worked with middle/high school musicians from all over the world to prepare them for the finest conservatories and music schools in the country. Furthermore, for four years he was the Executive and Artistic Director of the Bravo! Summer Music Academy.

Mr. Olson earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Violin Performance from Michigan State University where he studied with Robert Dan and I-fu Wang. He earned his Doctorate in Musical Arts in Violin Performance from the University of Minnesota where he studied with Sally O’Reilly. In addition to his violin studies, Mr. Olson studied viola with James Vanvalkenburg and Robert Dan, and piano with Deborah Moriarty, Michael Alan Nathan, and Penny Draper. He also earned a Master’s degree in Music Theory with an emphasis in pedagogy from Michigan State University. In 2020, Mr. Olson earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration with a specialization in Strategic Management from Temple University in Philadelphia.

Some of Mr. Olson’s performances include a tour of Minnesota as violin soloist for Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, a guest artist recital at Western Michigan University, a guest artist performance for the Schubert Club’s Courtroom Concert Series celebrating composer Dominick Argento in Minneapolis, MN, and a concert tour of Bemidji, MN and Alexandria, MN for the Minnesota Music Teacher’s Association. He also has extensive orchestral experience and has performed with the American Ballet Theatre, the Minnesota Oratorio Society, the Minneapolis Pops orchestra, the Kalamazoo Symphony, the West Michigan Symphony, the Lansing Symphony, the Battle Creek Symphony, the Adrian Symphony, the Jackson Symphony, and the Midland Symphony.

Awards he has received include performance fellowships and Music Theory teaching assistantships from Michigan State University and the University of Minnesota, and the Dean’s Award for Business study at Temple University. Additionally, Mr. Olson has won dozens of grants to fund guest artist residencies, performances, master classes, and educational outreach. Furthermore, he was the First Place Winner of the “Artistic Ambassador Competition” sponsored by the Minnesota Music Teacher’s Association in 2012 and again in 2014.