413 E Butler St. Manchester, Ia.
Wednesday, September 21, 7:00 pm

“The musicianship is flawless.” 
– Keyboard Magazine

“This show is highly recommended.”
– Willamette Week

John Nilsen Short Bio 2016

John Nilsen was born in Seattle, Washington in 1956. The Nilsen family moved to Portland, Oregon in 1960. Nilsen began studying classical piano from his mother at age six. Continuing his musical education, he began playing guitar at age fourteen. John moved to Ashland, Oregon in 1974 to attend Southern Oregon College (Southern Oregon University). Nilsen graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts in English, and was honored by the institution in 1995 in recognition of his outstanding achievements, dedicated efforts and leadership in the field of the performing arts with the Distinguished Alumnus Award, the most prestigious award bestowed upon Southern Oregon University graduates.

Nilsen founded the Magic Wing recording label in 1987. The label has a catalog of nineteen successful titles, each with international distribution. Before founding Magic Wing, John recorded three successful solo piano records on LA’s, Eagle Records (1983-1985), has recorded 16 on his own Magic Wing label and has had fifteen other CDs licensed in countries including Germany, Great Britain, The Philippines, Canada, Taiwan, Singapore bringing reported total record sales to well over one million copies sold. Having performed in Europe, Asia and all fifty U.S. States countless times, John Nilsen has also had two hundred and fifty of his compositions and musical arrangements receiving royalties world wide.

John played 250 performances in 2015 throughout the USA and Europe. John Nilsen’s forthcoming release, Local Ocean, will released in summer of 2016. Sessions for the 20th Nilsen recording will begin in fall, 2016.