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Kevin Olson is an
active pianist, composer, and member of the piano faculty at Utah
State University, where he teaches piano literature, pedagogy, and
accompanying courses. In addition to his collegiate teaching
responsibilities, Kevin directs the Utah State Youth Conservatory,
which provides weekly group and private piano instruction to more
than 200 pre-college community students. The National Association of
Schools of Music has recently recognized the Conservatory as a model
for pre-college piano instruction programs. Before teaching at Utah
State, he was on the faculty at Elmhurst College near Chicago and
Humboldt State University in northern California.
A native of Utah,
Kevin began composing at age five. When he was twelve, his
composition, An American Trainride, received the Overall First Prize
at the 1983 National PTA Convention at Albuquerque, New Mexico. Since
then he has been a Composer in Residence at the National Conference
on Piano Pedagogy, and has written music commissioned and performed
by groups such as the American Piano Quartet, Chicago a cappella, the
Rich Matteson Jazz Festival, and several piano teacher associations
around the country.
Kevin maintains a
large piano studio, teaching students of a variety of ages and
abilities. Many of the needs of his own piano students have inspired
more than 100 books and solos published by the FJH Music Company,
which he joined as a writer in 1994. |
