Eric Olsen

Eric Olsen has crafted a distinguished career in both classical and jazz music as a pianist, organist, composer, and conductor. He has performed with Kevin Maynor for 16 years and collaborated on five CDs. He has also performed and recorded with various jazz artists, including George Garzone, Ed Cherry, David Baker, Eliot Zigmund, Mike Clark, and Billy Hart. Dyad, a collaborative jazz-classical duet with alto saxophonist Louis Caimano, is his most recent release. He has recorded two CDs with his own jazz group, Urban Survival, and two solo classical compilations.

Mr. Olsen is Music Director and organist at Union Congregational Church in Montclair, New Jersey, where he has conducted many major choral works with members of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. He has accompanied for the studios of Margaret Harshaw, James King, Giorgio Tozzi, and Virginia Zeani.

Mr. Olsen studied piano with Menahem Pressler, Enrica Cavallo-Gulli, and Walter Robert; and jazz with Kenny Werner and David Baker. He currently serves as an adjunct faculty member at Montclair State University, and also as a member of the piano faculty at the Wharton Music Center in Murray Hill, New Jersey. He holds two master’s degrees in piano performance and jazz studies, respectively, from Indiana University, and a bachelor’s in piano and organ performance from Syracuse University. Visit ericolsenmusic.com for more information.