Parker Olson

Parker Olson is originally from Atlanta, Georgia and had the honor of studying with Charles Settle, Tom Sherwood, and Bill Wilder in the Atlanta Symphony. He was the tenured Principal Percussionist of the Billings Symphony for 2023-24 Season and has performed with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, and the Boston Philharmonic. He has attended the National Repertory Orchestra and the Aspen Music Festival for two summers. 

He was a student of Will Hudgins, Dan Bauch, and Matt McKay of the Boston Symphony at the New England Conservatory for his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Percussion Performance, and he studied with Charles Settle of the Toronto Symphony for his Artist Diploma at the Glenn Gould School.

I have had the opportunity to teach students privately both while I was in Atlanta and in Boston, and I enjoy working with both younger and older students. Each student is unique in their interests, their personality and learning types, their current level of playing, and their work ethic and how they approach their instrument. I gear my teaching towards where there playing is now, their goals, and I how I can support them in the information I give them. Some students are serious and want a lot of information. Other students want to be involved in something at school. Both are great, and as a teacher I want to be able to offer them information that is meaningful and applicable to their interests.