Dale A. Olsen, Ph.D.

College of Music,
The Florida State University,
Tallahassee, Florida 32306-1180
CURRICULUM VITAE

Distinguished Research Professor of Ethnomusicology

Not too long ago (1941) I was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota, where I lived, studied, and played music (clarinet and saxophone) until going off to college. I received the B.A. (1964) and M.A. (1966) degrees in Historical Musicology and Flute Performance from the University of Minnesota, followed by the Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from the University of California, Los Angeles (1973). Currently I am a Distinguished Research Professor of Ethnomusicology in the School of Music, an honor I was awarded in 2000. Between my Minnesota and California degrees, my wife, Diane, and I lived in Santiago, Chile as Peace Corps Volunteers (I was principal flutist with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Chile as a PCV). Since then I have lived, worked, and conducted research in South America as a a National Endowment for the Humanities awardee in Venezuela and Colombia, a Fulbright scholar to Peru, a Florida State University Developing Scholar awardee to Brazil, several times a COFRS awardee to Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay, and sabbatical leave research in Brazil and Bolivia. I have also received grants to conduct research in American and European museums, in Italy, China, Korea, Tonga (South Pacific), Japan, Ireland, Vietnam, Thailand, and Panama. In 2005-06 I was awarded a Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship to finish a book on the popular music of Vietnam.
Over the years, and since my days in the Peace Corps in Chile, I have learned how to play numerous musical instruments from the Andes (kena, siku, tarka, charango, and the Peruvian indigenous harp) and from Japan (shakuhachi and ryuteki). I have a shihan diploma in Kinko-ryu shakuhachi, which I received from my Japanese sensei, Iwami Baikyoku IV, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 1983. In this picture I am playing shakuhachi in front of FSU's gamelan kebyar, while wearing a Vietnamese shirt. Talk about a mixture of cultures! Since spending part of a summer in Ireland, I have been playing Irish transverse flute, and purchased a nice instrument in Galway. My favorite flute for playing Irish music, however, is a period 7-keyed wooden flute made in England in the late 1800s. A friend of mine bought it for me in Australia.

In the academic world, I have served as a Council and Board Member at Large of the Society for Ethnomusicology, Board Member for Ethnomusicology/World Music of the College Music Society, as President of the Florida Folklore Society, as First Vice-President of the Society for Ethnomusicology, and as President of The College Music Society. I did my term as national President of CMS from January 1999 through December 2000. In this photograph, Tony Seeger and I are enjoying the wonderful Santa Fe air and view during the CMS national meeting in Santa Fe in November 2001.

I enjoy doing research and writing more than anything else academically. I have more than one-hundred publications, including the following books: Music of the Warao of Venezuela: Song People of the Rain Forest (winner of the 1997 Merriam Prize for the "Most Outstanding Book in Ethnomusicology"); Musics of Many Cultures: Study Guide and Workbook (4th edition); Music of El Dorado: The Ethnomusicology of Ancient South American Cultures; The Garland Handbook of Latin American Music (coedited with Dan Sheehy); The Chrysanthemum and the Song: Music, Memory, and Identity in the South American Japanese Diaspora (pictured to the right--information about this book and others, including links to audio files that accompany them, can be made from my home page); and Popular Music in Vietnam: The Politics of Remembering, the Economics of Forgetting. I have also edited Music of Latin America (Study Guide in series Sounds of the World); co-edited Volume 2 of the Garland Encyclopedia of World Music with Dan Sheehy; and was Recording Review Editor for Ethnomusicology. My articles have appeared in the Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society, Asian Music Journal, Ethnomusicology, Latin American Music Review, College Music Symposium, Journal of Latin American Lore, Worlds of Music, and elsewhere . I have also contributed many book chapters (please click here for my CV).

At the personal level, Diane and I have been married 43 years. Diane has her Ph.D. in Instructional Design and works for the state Department of Revenue. Our son Darin has a bachelor's degree in architecture and a master's degree in building construction management from the University of Florida. He currently work in the Atlanta area as a project manager for a construction company. This picture is taken from the deck of our beach house, Dunescape, on St. George Island, Florida. Dunescape is one of my favorite places on earth. It is my writing, reading, and relaxing retreat, although when I have the time to go there, I usually end up repairing things. The salt air has a way of making material objects in need of fixing--but I love it!
We have a beautiful granddaughter, Isabella, pictured on the right, jumping in the waves at St. George Island, Florida. She is 6 years old now, and will soon be 7 (March 2009). She attends school in the Atlanta area. She loves the beach, enjoys riding her bicycle, riding horses, climbing trees, running all the time, drawing and painting, singing, and she has a wonderful imagination and a sparkling personality. Isabella takes after her beautiful grandmother, Diane.

Top of Page • Home • Curriculum Vitae