Thor Polson’s Piano Studio

Thor Polson is a member of the Rogue Valley Music Teachers Association and teaches piano at his studio in Medford.  He has performed at dozens of Twin Cities venues, and his recordings have been aired on four radio stations there and more recently on other stations such as Jefferson Public Radio, KSKQ, KRUU, Pandora, and Jango Radio. His previous album Northern Lights received high praise from Jazz Police critic Andrea Canter, and his most recent album The Portal was released in January of 2020.  Thor gigs regularly in southern Oregon, performing on occasion with such notable West Coast jazzers as saxophonist Adam Harris, guitarist Ed Dunsavage, and vibraphonist Ian Harland, among many others, and he recorded three originals with Kansas City jazzers Matt Otto, Joey Panella, and Brian Steever in August of 2021.  He has also filmed two television spots on RVTV with Hawaii vibraphonist Thomas Mackay and appeared with him at the Medford Jazz Festival and the Dunsmuir Jazz-in-the-Canyon Jazz Festival.  More recent performing projects have included tributes to Thelonious Monk, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, and Wes Montgomery, with tributes to Charlie Parker and the Bill Evans/Jim Hall recording collaborations as current works in progress, not to mention upcoming performances in his Janus Concert Series, which will feature local musicians playing original compositions and seldom-heard masterpieces written by well-known jazz composers.  (His Janus Jazz Quartet was voted the best Rogue Valley jazz group in the “2024 Best of Ashland” Sneak Preview readers’ poll.)  Though a jazzer at heart, Thor originally moved to southern Oregon for a three-year course of study in classical piano with Dr. Alexander Tutunov at SOU and continues to take lessons from him occasionally.  He also gigs regularly and is available to play jazz solo or in combos for practically any occasion.

Thor-Polson-Piano-Teacher-portrait