Olive Nelson Russell

Olive Nelson Russell was an American composer, organist, and pianist who wrote works for chorus, organ and piano.

Life and career

Russell was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota, to Lora and Emil Nelson. She married Clarence Russell in 1935. Their son is the author Dick Russell. She studied music in Paris, and at the Sherwood Music School and the American Conservatory of Music, both in Chicago. Her teachers included Robert Casadesus and Yves Nat.
As a pianist, Russell performed in France and throughout the United States. As a church organist, she worked in Chicago, Kansas City, and Minneapolis. She was a keyboard instructor at MacPhail College of Music from 1942 to 1947, and at the University of Missouri Kansas City from 1961 to 1971. Russell also gave a keyboard workshop at the El Paso Institute of the Arts in 1974. Russell died on 30 March 1989 in Aurora, Colorado.
Russell composed organ and choral works suitable for church performance, and teaching pieces for piano. She often collaborated with Ethel Tench Rogers. Many of her piano pieces were included in pedagogy collections. Her works were published by Belwin Mills Publishing Corp., CPP/Belwin Inc., Harold Flammer Inc., J Fischer & Bro., ProArt Publications, and Summy Birchard.