Teaching Philosophy
"Sing unto Him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise."
Psalm 33:3 (NIV)
Our creator commands us to sing and to develop our skills for His glory. My hope is to lead students to an understanding of the relationship between skill and joy. It is difficult to experience true joy if one lacks the confidence born of well developed skills. It is difficult to acquire and maintain advanced skills without an attitude of joy. There is a balance between the two that provides an ever ascending path to true mastery of any art.
About
Lila Olson is an established singing teacher and performer with over 50 years of experience. She holds the Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from the Univ. of Kansas, and a Master of Voice Performance from the Univ. of Nebraska - Lincoln. She has served as section leader and soloist with numerous church choirs and choral organizations throughout her life. Lila performed with several small local opera companies and appeared as a soloist with community orchestras in Minnesota from the late 1980’s until 2021. Early in her career and prior to the commitments brought on by marriage and family, Lila sang with Kansas City Lyric Opera and Opera/Omaha promotions.
Her love for teaching has been the driving force in Lila’s career. She has taught from the time she was a graduate student in the 1970’s. She began as a teaching assistant during degree programs at KU and UN-L. While studying at the University of Nebraska, she was entrusted with the studio of a professor who fell ill and was no longer able to teach. She went on to do sabbatical replacement teaching at Ithaca College and then many years of adjunct faculty work at colleges in the Minneapolis MN metro area. She has maintained a private home studio throughout her career, and, after leaving a lengthy period of work at Augsburg College in Minneapolis she has dedicated all her attention to her beloved home studio students.
Lila is a popular adjudicator and masterclass presenter for schools and musical organizations. She has served on the boards of several Minneapolis arts organizations including Minnesota NATS, Thursday Musical, Philomusica of Minnesota, and CORO! Music composition has come as a rather late in life passion and she is enjoying the challenges of creating meaningful music for worship taken directly from Holy Scripture.