JENNIFER OLSON holds a Master’s degree in voice from the University of Michigan and a Doctorate of Musical Arts in voice from the University of Minnesota. She is fluent in French and in addition to her education in the United States, has studied in Milan Italy and in Orford Québec. For the past eight years, Jennifer has been teaching voice at the collegiate and high-school levels. She joins the Bemidji State University Music Department as an assistant professor of voice.

Some of her most notable performances include appearances as soprano soloist in the Bemidji Symphony Orchestra’s 2015 performance of the Mozart Requiem, soprano soloist in the Oratorio Society of Minnesota’s 2015 production of Honegger’s King David, soprano soloist in Händel’s Messiah with the Oratorio Society of Minnesota and additionally with the Rochester Symphony Orchestra and Chorale (MN). She also appeared as the soprano soloist in the Minnesota premiere of Frank Ticheli’s Songs of Love and Life with the University of Minnesota’s Wind Ensemble and Craig Kirchhoff. She played the role of “Barbarina” in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at the Bay View Music Festival and the role of “Tiny” in Benjamin Britten’s Paul Bunyan with VocalEssence and Philip Brunelle. In 2016 she performed with the Fargo-Moorhead Opera Company in the role of “Papagena” in Mozart’s The Magic Flute. In July 2014 Jennifercompeted as a National Semi-Finalist representing the North Central Region in the NATS Artist Award Competition in Boston. In September 2014 she represented both Bemidji State University and the University of Minnesota at the NAIP (New Audiences and Innovative Practice) International Conference in Iceland. In 2016, she won a grant from the Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund for workshops and recitals on African-American Art Songs and Spirituals with the students of Bemidji State University. In 2016, Jennifer also won an Individual Artist Grant from the Region 2 Arts Council to record a CD of rarely performed South American Art Song Cycles with Dr. Ana María Otamendi (Louisiana State University).  She performed as a soloist with the Heartland Symphony Orchestra in October 2018 and was the soprano soloist in November 2018 for the US premiere of Patrick Hawes “The Great War Symphony” at Northrop Auditorium in Minneapolis with the Oratorio Society of Minnesota.