“This music that Olivia and Karla have been playing almost feels like it’s been calling out for this fleshing out of the sound - adding woodwinds, strings, piano, different timbres. This is an entirely different experience with this concert where we’re sharing something with the audience in a more direction and intimate way. All of that for audiences is just special.”
The OK Factor + Symphony is a dream come to life for the duo. Cellist Olivia Diercks and violinist Karla Colahan have patiently sought after and carefully curated the right moment for their original duo pieces to be set to the tune of symphony orchestra — fully fleshed out, newly breathed into, freshly explored. There was no better co-conspirator than Ilan Blanck (composer, arranger, producer, musician, The Great Connector), who innately understands the duo’s musical voices, personalities, and nuances and anticipates their harmonic and rhythmic direction. .
Throughout the six-movement suite, Blanck invites the orchestra to dance with Olivia and Karla in this new sonic world. The interplay between the duo and orchestra is engaging for the players and the audience, with each orchestra member and section treated as a soloist in their own right. Equally engaging are the intimate solo moments between the duo, which reflect their ongoing musical telepathy and organic connection. With lush harmonic landscapes, intriguing textures, and intricate dialogue between instruments, this contemporary music is palatable, relatable, and inviting. The OK Factor asks the audience to journey with them into this uncharted territory - this dream come to life - and be part of its reality.
The OK Factor Orchestral Suite
written by The OK Factor; arranged by Ilan Blanck
for fiddle, cello, and chamber orchestra
Run time: 30’
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about the ok factor
Olivia Diercks and Karla Colahan - cellist and violinist of the new-classical crossover duo, The OK Factor - have one word to describe their musical connection: lucky. The almost telepathic way they respond to one another is palpable to the audiences they capture during performances, as is their spontaneity and joy. Organic and genuine, their original compositions and arrangements feel both comfortingly familiar and uniquely fresh, and have been described as "genre-bending" (Julie Amacher, MPR) and "pure magic" (Wausau Pilot & Review).
In their 10+ years of writing, performing, and touring, The OK Factor has honed the ways they impact communities outside the concert hall. Residency work has become a deep passion - sharing intimate performances, conducting outreach activities, and leading workshops for students through their education initiative, ATLAS. Olivia and Karla are also sought-after collaborators and composers-in-residence, having worked with many regional, national, and international artists, and various digital music libraries.
The OK Factor’s distinct compositional and performance style, and dedication to educational outreach, awarded them a Minnesota State Arts Board Arts Education Grant for the 2024 school year, and an Artist Fellowship for Scandinavian Folk Arts and Cultural Traditions through the American Scandinavian Foundation in 2020. The duo has produced five studio albums of their original pieces and arrangements: Water Street ('14), That's Enough of That ('16), Have Yourself an OK Christmas ('17), Season’s Greetings (‘20), and OKX (‘23).