From 1988 to 1992 he was coordinator of the San Francisco Symphony's New and Unusual Music series.
He has composed several chamber pieces, including a Cello Sonata, a large work for cello and male chorus called Nocturno, and two cello concertos, as well as a large work for viola and piano called True Divided Light, premiered in 2005.
Carlson is the recipient of an Academy Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, two commissions from Meet the Composer, Chamber Music America, and several other grants and fellowships.
Dreamkeepers, with an original story and libretto by Aden Ross, was commissioned by the Utah Opera in celebration of the 1996 Utah Centennial and given a new production by the Tulsa Opera in 1998.
Anna Karenina received a new production in September 2010 by Opera San Jose, and was performed again in April 2016 by Moores Opera Center at the University of Houston.