For sixty years, Dr. David Osterlund has taught all ages of students from kindergarten to seminary doctoral students He has assisted in television (204 programs of Exploring Music Grade 5 and Grade 6 on Minnesota/Wisconsin Educational Television) and radio productions (Sounds of Praise on KTIS Radio). He was a regular teacher and staff accompanist at band camp programs in Minnesota and Wisconsin. He spent four years in Ethiopia working with Ethiopians and Europeans and Americans as he taught at the American School and the good Shepherd School in Addis Ababa. He has served as division Chairman for Music and Fine Arts at Northwestern College s well Music Chairman and College Dean as Columbia International University.
His teaching emphasis has been in Music Education but also including courses in Ethnomusicology, Conducting, Church Music, Piano and directing the Northwestern University Band, Bethel-Northwestern Orchestra, the Northwestern Women’s Choir and the Columbia Ambassador Choir and Grad Singers and College and Community Band.
He has developed an educational program for prison inmates within the South Carolina Department of Corrections. The CIU Prison initiative has graduated 145 inmates with the CIU Associate of Arts Degree. More recently he introduced a Music program into the Maximum-Security Broad River Correctional institution where some 50 men took lessons beginning with recorder and then on to wind, string and percussion instruments.
His Doctoral work included a study of the Anuak Tribe of South Western Ethiopia - its music within its socio-cultural setting. Because of a genocide action against the Anuak in 2004, many of this tribe have resettled in the Minneapolis and surrounding area. Dr. Osterlund is reexamining his work – making recordings and photos and information available to the Anuak tribe once again.
Dr. Osterlund has been an active in minister of music roles in churches throughout his career including Ogden Ave Baptist Superior, Christ Chapel in Addis Ababa, Twin City Bible Church in Urbana IL, Grace Baptist in Madison Wisconsin, Minnetonka Community Church, Fridley Grace Evangelical Free Church, and Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Columbia. SC.