Guitarist John Olson pursues an eclectic life in music, science, and arts leadership. As a guitarist, has performed in several ensembles, including the Olson/De Cari Duo, the Brooklyn Guitar Quartet, and the Contemporanea Guitar Duo, and has served as section leader and soloist with the New York City Guitar Orchestra. He has released two CDs with the Olson/De Cari Duo: Quiet Songs, which contains baroque and twentieth-century music for solo guitar and guitar and voice, and Eve’s Diary, featuring new song cycles and arrangements written for the Duo by David Leisner, Frank Wallace, João Luiz, and Clarice Assad. He also performed on the New York City Guitar Orchestra’s debut CD, Spectra: New Music for Guitar Orchestra. He has studied guitar with David Leisner, Jon Harris and Neil Anderson, and organ and baroque performance practice with organists Rick Erickson, Rodney Gehrke, and Christian Lane. He has performed in guitar masterclasses with Ben Verdery, William Kanengiser, Raphaella Smits, and others.

From 2007, to 2024 John served as President of the New York City Classical Guitar Society (NYCCGS). John revitalized the organization and made it a thriving and central part of the city’s guitar community, producing over 180 concerts and commissioning over 20 compositions for guitar orchestra. John has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Guitar Foundation of America (GFA), the largest organization in the United States devoted to the classical guitar, and currently serves as a member of the board of directors of the Boston Classical Guitar Society. As NYCCGS President, John organized a series of Guitar Society Summits for leaders of similar organizations, and gave talks and led panel discussions at the GFA Convention and the Yale Guitar Extravaganza. From 2013 to 2023, John directed the annual Ben Verdery Hawaii Guitar Class.

Also a respected scientist, John received his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and performed research for over 25 years in academic and industrial settings. He is dedicated to bridging the worlds of science and music through his Science/Music Commissioning Project, which seeks to expand the repertoire for guitar and voice and explore connections between science and music through song.

Articles and interviews

Interview with Olson/De Cari Duo on episode 138 of the podcast Classical Guitar Insider with Bret Williams

Interview with John on episode 7 of the podcast Classical Guitar Insider with Bret Williams

Article about John's Science/Music Commissioning Project in GuitArt magazine (in Italian) (PDF)

Interview with John in Classical Guitar magazine (UK) (PDF)

"Cue guitar! Cue voice! Now bring on the molecules...!" on Science Friday

"The Collision of Science, Music and Theater" on BenchFly

"Quiet Voices" on UrbanGuitar (PDF)