Composing Community — and Now at Abbey Road

When Assistant Professor of Music Jamie Poulsen sits down at the piano, it’s hard to tell where teaching ends and performing begins. For more than 30 years, Poulsen has been a quiet but powerful force at Simpson College, shaping the lives of music students through both classical and jazz.

Poulsen began teaching part time at Simpson in 1992, eventually joining the faculty full time in 2003. Since then, he’s become a mentor to hundreds of students, whether through music theory classes, private piano lessons, or weekly rehearsals where he often accompanies student and faculty performers. Over the years, he’s accompanied more than 200 student recitals — each one a personal investment in someone else’s musical journey.

“One of my favorite things at Simpson has been accompanying students,” Poulsen said. “At the height of this experience, I was playing more than 225 different pieces each semester, hearing great voices all day, every day, when I wasn’t teaching classes or giving piano lessons. Many of those students went on to successful careers in singing and teaching.”

Though trained as a classical pianist, Poulsen’s musical calendar is filled with jazz. He performs more than 100 times a year in the Des Moines area and across Iowa, appearing solo or in jazz duos, trios and big bands. He plays regularly with the Nola Jazz Band and has performed at major jazz festivals including the Bix Beiderbecke, Glenn Miller and Cedar Basin festivals.

For Poulsen, performing jazz is more than entertainment — it’s an extension of his teaching. “Jazz teaches listening, musical cooperation, and spontaneity,” he often tells students. Whether he’s onstage at a jazz venue or at Simpson, he treats every collaboration as a chance to learn together.

Scoring Success Beyond Simpson

Before teaching full time, Poulsen composed music for hundreds of commercials and corporate films, including projects for Hy-Vee, Principal and Disney. He wrote music for more than 400 commercial productions over 12 years, earning 41 awards in both commercial and classical categories, including multiple Telly and Addy awards, as well as “Best Score” wins at the Iowa Film Awards. He recently wrote and produced a new jingle for Fareway Grocery Stores, which aired during the Super Bowl.

In July, Poulsen’s legacy will reach a global milestone. He’ll record two of his large orchestral compositions at London’s world-renowned Abbey Road Studios with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Known globally as the site where The Beatles recorded nearly all their albums— not just “Abbey Road” — the studio has also hosted landmark recordings like “Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd and the scores of iconic films including “Star Wars” and “Harry Potter.”

Poulsen’s two works — “Piano Concerto,” premiered by the Des Moines Symphony in 2002, and “Heartland Poem,” commissioned in 2008 — will be recorded with Grammy-nominated pianist Robert Thies, whom Poulsen met through Simpson trustee Virginia Lauridsen.

“This is a dream project,” Poulsen said. “To have my music recorded at Abbey Road, with the Royal Philharmonic, and with a pianist of Robert’s caliber — it’s humbling, thrilling, and deeply meaningful. I’ve always strived to create music that connects emotionally, and this gives those pieces a chance to reach a broader audience than ever before.”

And the hits will keep coming for Paulsen this summer. In August, he will be inducted into the Iowa Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame, receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Iowa Rock ’n Roll Music Association. The award celebrates his lasting contributions to Iowa’s music scene through performance, education, and community connection.

Through all of it — the performances, the teaching, the composing — Poulsen’s goal has remained the same: to make music that matters and to inspire others with his compositions and performances.

And at Simpson, he’s helping the next generation do exactly that.