Alan Henson

Alan Henson is the cello instructor at Grinnell College and has an active private studio (cello and double bass) in Ames, Iowa. He is Principal Cellist of the Central Iowa Symphony. Henson has played double bass for numerous touring Broadway shows at Des Moines Civic Center. He is former Principal Bassist of the Des Moines, Dubuque, and Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestras, and was the double bass instructor at University of Northern Iowa and cello instructor at Wartburg College in the 1990’s. He has been a double bassist with Cedar Rapids, West Virginia, Milwaukee, Green Bay, and Shreveport symphonies, and played both cello and bass in the New Hampshire Music Festival. He was the founding cellist of the Blue Sage Piano Trio, and was a guest artist with the Montclaire and Pioneer string quartets. He studied at CU Boulder, Rice University, and UW-Milwaukee. He received the Leopold La Fosse Studio Teacher of the Year award from Iowa String Teachers Association in 2016.