Allison Olsen

Cellist Allison Olsen, occupying the Frances Shapire-Weitzenhoffer Chair, has been a member of the Louisville Orchestra since 2006. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Ms. Olsen studied music performance under Desmond Hoebig, Shirley Trepel , and Stephen Geber at Rice University, the University of Akron, and the Cleveland Institute of Music.

In her free time, Ms. Olsen enjoys traveling, hiking, reading, and visiting the zoo and park with her daughter. A musician of widely varied tastes, her favorite musical group is Sting and her favorite composers are Beethoven and Shostakovich because “They are the most fun to play!” In Ms. Olsen’s opinion, the most interesting aspect of being a musician is “[There’s] lots of variety — classics, pops, rock concerts, opera, ballet – [there is] always something different.” Her pieces of advice for young musicians are “1. Go to symphony concerts as often as you can 2. Remember you’re never too young to reach for your dreams.”