In 2002, Olga Kern performed Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54 with the North Carolina Symphony in Raleigh.
Pianist Olga Kern launched her U.S. career in 2001 at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, winning a Gold Medal—the only woman in the last 50 years to do so. She has since performed with ensembles including the St. Louis, Baltimore, and Dallas symphony orchestras; National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, D.C.); Milan’s Filarmonica della Scala; Tokyo’s NHK Symphony Orchestra; São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra; Stuttgart Philharmonic; and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. She has toured the United States with two orchestras from the United Kingdom, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, in 2018 and 2022.
In the 2024/25 season, Kern appeared at the Virginia Arts Festival and opened the San Diego Symphony’s summer season. She recently joined conductor Leonard Slatkin for concerts with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and has also been featured as soloist with orchestras including The Florida Orchestra, Des Moines Symphony, and Johannesburg Philharmonic. Her recital schedule has included visits to Portugal, India, and Italy.
Engagements in the 2023/24 season included performances of Rachmaninoff’s monumental four concertos and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the Austin Symphony and with Virginia Symphony Orchestra, a nationally broadcast New Year’s concert with the Czech Philharmonic, and tours of South Africa and Asia. Kern has served as a jury chair of several competitions including the Olga Kern International Piano Competition, of which she is Artistic Director. A dedicated educator, she has been on the piano faculty of the Manhattan School of Music since 2017, and in 2019, she was appointed the Connie and Marc Jacobson Director of Chamber Music at the Virginia Arts Festival. She also established Aspiration, a foundation that provides financial assistance to musicians around the world.
Kern is a Steinway Artist and Spirio Steinway piano ambassador. Her discography includes works of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Brahms, and Shostakovich.
