Hans Ottsen - Guitarist/Teacher
Hans! My prodigal son! - Joe Diorio
Hans has played and studied piano since birth. His mother, Linda Ottsen, soprano, sang with musical greats Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland with Hans in the womb. In his mid-teens, he began playing guitar and pursued his formal education as a Studio Guitar major at the University of Southern California, continuing his studies as a Jazz Guitar/Music Theory major at the Manhattan School of Music.
Performance venues include Thousand Oaks Center for the Arts, The Knitting Factory (NYC), The Mint in Los Angeles, and Common Grounds in Hollywood. In Ventura, he has performed at Nicholby's, Zoey's Cafe, J's Tapas, Bernadette's on Main, Franky's, The Drink, The Deer Lodge, Herzog Wine Cellars, 95.9 the Octopus, and Howard Freiberg's Ojai Jam-Band Festivals. In addition to his solo guitar work, Hans' newest projects include Harlem Holler, a trio project with Phil Salazar (fiddle) and Randy Tico (bass), The Ventura Jazz Orchestra (an 18 piece big band), and several other small emsemble projects, all available for bookings.
He has been teaching guitar and piano privately since 1992 in Ventura County, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco. His teaching experience is pan-stylistic. Honing in on individual student passions, he helps people develop their jazz, blues, or rock skills, as well as their knowledge of jazz or classical music theory, improvisation, and composition.