Department Chair
Director of Orchestras; Violin, Viola
Department of Music
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97331
Phone:541-737-4061
Fax:541-737-4268
E-mail: mcarlson@oregonstate.edu
Dr. Marlan Carlson is professor of music and chairman of the Department of Music, as well
as music director of the Corvallis-OSU Symphony Orchestra. He holds the doctorate of musical arts
and the Artist’s Diploma from the Eastman School of Music, and had been both a Fulbright Scholar
and a Danforth Fellow. Professionally, he has been principal viola in the Heidelberg Staedtisches
Orchester, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra. From 1988 to 1990,
Carlson served as resident director of the Oregon Study Center in Stuttgart, Germany. During that
time, he conducted the Hohenheim Wind Ensemble and played in the Stuttgart Bach Orchestra. In the
course of his career at OSU, he has served as resident director of the Study Abroad programs in
London, Cologne, Siena, Angers, and Vienna.
In 2000, Carlson was presented with the International Service Award by OSU and the Excellence Award by the College of Liberal Arts Advisory Council. Following several enthusiastically acclaimed concerts in 2001 in Zhengzhou, China, he was named “Permanent Honorable Guest Conductor” of the Henan Province Symphony Orchestra. Last season he conducted symphony concerts in Zhengzhou and Tianjin, China, as well as in Lund, Sweden.