The composer and cellist Philip Carlsen was professor of music and conductor of the orchestra at the University of Maine at Farmington from 1982 until his retirement in 2015. As an undergraduate at the University of Washington, he studied cello and viola da gamba with Eva Heinitz, and played with the university orchestra, the UW Contemporary Group, and the Baroque-oriented Seattle Chamber Singers. In graduate school, he was the assistant conductor and principal cellist of the Brooklyn College Orchestra, and has continued as an active free-lancer in Maine.

Phil’s music has been performed widely, by such performers as the Portland Symphony, Sebago-Long Lake Region Chamber Music Festival, Passamaquoddy Bay Symphony Orchestra, Bates College Gamelan Ensemble, Manhattan Marimba Quartet, National Symphony Chamber Players, etc. His solo piano piece “October,” recorded by his son Melsen Carlsburg, is available on a Navona CD. He is in his second year directing the Back Cove Festival of Contemporary Music at the Portland Conservatory. Phil lives in South Portland with his wife, the poet Jeri Theriault.

Updated: 3/25/2017