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Artistic Director and Conductor
Allison Olsson |
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Confluence is
excited to retain Allison Olsson as Artistic
Director and Conductor.
Allison Olsson is a noted pianist, singer,
choral director, and educator who is passionate
about bringing excellent music to as many people
as possible. Since childhood she has pursued her
love for playing the piano and singing. She
currently performs as a piano soloist and a
collaborative pianist with Ellie Seligmann, a
soprano who sings classical and opera
repertoire, the Harry Olsson Jr. Jazz Quartet,
and numerous area singers in classical and
popular repertoire. She has been the accompanist
and Interim Director for the Golden Concert
Choir, as well as director of the Children’s
Choir of Golden. She sings as a soloist in the
metro area as well. She sang "I Know That My
Redeemer LIveth" from Handel's Messiah in
Golden. She and her husband, Harry, have sung as
a duo and with another couple as a quartet for
twenty years in the metro area. Their repertoire
includes early American music, folk and jazz
standards as well as material arranged by
Allison. She teaches piano and voice in her
private studio and sponsors talented performers
and clinicians to the area whenever possible.
After majoring in Piano Performance and minoring
in Organ, at Houston Baptist University, she
discovered her love for teaching and for
directing choral music. She went on to build a
large and thriving music program at Calvary
Episcopal Church in the 80's and 90's. During
this time she developed the skills to direct
amateur and experienced musicians in the same
choir together with excellent results. Her
belief that music, especially singing, is innate
to all people grew stronger as her un-auditioned
singers were led to make some terrific music
together. She continues to be very excited about
doing excellent music with any singers who can
match pitch. Her abilities have won her many
followers who still sing with her after 25
years. She has been characterized as having high
expectations without high pressure.
In the 1980's Allison built a piano studio which
continues to the present. Many of her students
have won regional awards. An injury to her right
arm in 1996 necessitated relearning how to play
the piano. She was blessed to be able to study
with Edna Golandsky, John Bloomfield, Nancy
Reese, Susan Nowicki, and Teresa Dybvig of the
Taubman Institute. She is forever grateful to
Dorothy Taubman who pioneered the amazing work
of coordinated and balanced playing. The freedom
she experienced in her playing caused her to
want the same experience while singing. In
studies with Ellie Seligman and vocologist Nancy
Harris, she found the same principles of
alignment and balance free the voice. Allison
learned, from this difficult process, that
playing an instrument and singing are effortless
when one learns to use one's body in a
coordinate and aligned way. She has since become
a specialist, working to help pianists and
vocalists recover from fatigue, over-use and
injury. The same techniques which free the
injured singer or player also enable increased
fluency, expression, ease, and overall musical
ability. Allison realized, at this time, that
anyone who is patient and persistent can become
better at music by solving the physical problems
of imbalance or overwork.
Allison's passion for choral music extends to
learning about it as well. She has been
fortunate to study with some of the great choral
directors of our time such as: Sir David
Willcocks, John Bertalot, Jim Litton, Ray
Glover, and Peter Hallock. She has been
profoundly influenced by the willingness she met
in all these great conductors to make excellent
music with singers of any ability. They are all
well-known for their superbly trained auditioned
groups; however, a shared mark of excellence
seems to be a delight in empowering regular
folks to sing well, too. They became, for
Allison, the example of how it is possible to
have high standards of excellence and still
welcome community members into one's choirs.
Allison formed her first children's choir in
1989. She has never lost her delight in making
music accessible to children. All children can
sing and it is her wish to get children singing
while it is still easy for them, before they
begin to judge themselves. She is saddened that
so many in our culture judge themselves as
unable to sing. Singing is energizing and
empowering. Singing in a choir is even more fun
because a person becomes part of a collective
voice much larger than him or herself.
Allison loves every kind of music (well, not
elevator music) and has performed and directed
styles as diverse as bluegrass, plainsong,
classical and Broadway. She believes that music
speaks to the hearts of people and is important
to do as well as to hear. Hallmarks of all her
choirs and lessons are: having a good time,
challenging oneself appropriately, trying new
things and learning new skills, gaining
autonomy, remaining present to the task at hand,
and feeling a sense of gratitude for stepping
into the continuum of great music through all
the ages.
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