He is a cellist born in New York who grew up in Albany, New York and graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music with his Bachelor of Music degree. While there won the school’s acclaimed concerto competition. He went on to take further studies at The Juilliard School.
Other competitions he participated in saw him being a first prize winner at the Aspen Music Festival and the Nakamichi Cello Competition and winning second prize at the 2002 Holland-America Music Society Competition. He has also participated at the Tanglewood Institute and the Steans Institute for Young Artists.
He became Assistant Principal Cello at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2005. Outside of his work with the CSO he has been a guest musician with The Empire State Youth Orchestra and The Long Bay Symphony.
As a chamber musician and soloist he is a founding member of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO) and the Civitas Ensemble. With other members of the orchestra he has performed as the cellist with the Lincoln String Quartet.
Recordings he has performed on include Stereo is King by Mason Bates, Alla Zingarese by the Civitas Ensemble, Anniversary by The Empire Jazz Orchestra and Somethin’ Differente by Alex Torres.
Sources:
- https://cso.org/about/performers/chicago-symphony-orchestra/cello/kenneth-olsen/
- https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2006-10-08-0610070198-story.html
- https://www.chambermusicchicago.org/kenneth-olsen-cello
- https://www.classicalconnect.com/Kenneth_Olsen/73
- https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Olsen_(Cellist)
- https://csosoundsandstories.org/the-csos-yu-and-olsen-in-passacaglia-for-violin-and-viola/
- https://esyo.org/esyo40
- https://theartsgrandstrand.org/event/long-bay-symphony-featuring-ken-olsen-cello/
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mn0001889903
- https://www.discogs.com/de/artist/3172659-Ken-Olsen