Winner of first prize and the audience choice award at the 24th Annual Sphinx Competition, violinist Amaryn Olmeda is a rising star sought after for her bold and expressive performances as a soloist and collaborator. Violinist.com says of Olmeda, “[…] her commanding stage presence, infallible technique, and interpretive ability already rival that of international concert stage veterans.”

Highlights of the 2023-2024 season include return invitations as soloist with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and Oakland Symphony, and debut solo appearances with the Houston Symphony, Cleveland Symphony, Chicago Sinfonietta, Des Moines Symphony, Folsom Lake Symphony, Springfield Symphony, and Grand Rapids Symphony. Olmeda will be featured in recitals at Classical KDFC SKY Concerts with pianist Lara Downes, Music at Gretna, at the Willamette University Distinguished Artist Series, and at Salon De Virtuosi in New York City.
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Olmeda made her Carnegie Hall solo debut on the Sphinx Virtuosi tour at the age of 14, garnering rave reviews. At 13, Olmeda was named the initial member of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Opus 3 Artist’s Artist Apprentice Program.

Highlights of previous seasons include debuts as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Richmond Symphony, Stockton Symphony, Oakland Symphony, Classical Tahoe Orchestra, and with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra at their New Year’s Concert Series, which earned her a nomination for the San Francisco Classical Voice Audience Choice Awards. Olmeda was also a recitalist at the Bouchaine Young Artist Series at Festival Napa Valley as well as at the National Arts Club in New York City.
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Other career highlights include being selected as an NPR From the Top Fellow, appearing on Show 404, and a featured solo performance with the Sacramento Philharmonic and VITA Academy in the video production, “The Extraordinary Life of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges.” In 2022 Olmeda performed for the San Francisco Conservatory Gala with pianist Yuja Wang, and has participated in masterclasses with Rachel Barton Pine, Hilary Hahn, James Ehnes, and Midori. Olmeda was the recipient of the National Arts Club’s Herman and Mary Neuman Music Award and was named a Young Artist Soloist by the Seattle Symphony. She received first prize in the Auburn Symphony Young Artists and Music in the Mountains Young Musicians competitions, as well as in the Classical Music Masters Competition at the Harris Center for the Performing Arts, the Pacific Musical Society Competition in San Francisco, the Merced Symphony Young Artist, Diablo Valley and Holy Names College Competition, the Solano Symphony Young Artist Competition, and the United States International Music Competition at Stanford University, among others.

In 2023, Olmeda made her recording debut as the featured soloist of Carlos Simon’s “Between Worlds” on the Sphinx Virtuosi’s inaugural recording with Deutsche Grammophon. The Strad Magazine says of Olmeda’s performance, “it receives an impressive reading here by the young musician [and] she shows why she has garnered the word 'prodigy’.”

Olmeda enjoys performing in school and community outreach events, including with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Richmond Symphony, Auburn Symphony, Oakland Symphony, and the Sacramento Youth Symphony. She has performed for numerous charity events including for the Habitat for Humanity Gala, Keaton Raphael Child Cancer Organization, From the Top’s Concert for Colorado Children’s Hospital through Seacrest Studios, and for the Sphinx Organization Songs for Seniors.

Born in Melbourne, Australia in 2008, Olmeda currently studies at the New England Conservatory of Music with Miriam Fried. She previously studied with Ian Swensen at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Amaryn Olmeda performs on a violin made by J.B. Vuillaume in 1864.

DECEMBER 2024

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ACCLAIM

“Prodigy is a big word to throw around. But in the case of our next guest, there may be no better description.”
– 90.9 KXJZ Capital Public Radio

"[A] Bay Area violin prodigy”
– San Francisco Chronicle

‍“Go and find a video of Amaryn Olmeda [...] playing the violin on YouTube, and you will not be surprised that she has won so many competitions with her music. You might be surprised that it was in the junior division.”
– Sacramento Bee

‍“[…] her commanding stage presence, infallible technique, and interpretive ability already rival that of international concert stage veterans.”
– Violinist.com

“Olmeda’s performance had a profoundly mystical quality, capturing a full range of emotions throughout the plaintive G-minor opening and the fiendishly virtuosic chromatic section built on tritones ("the Devil’s interval") which, from her capable hands and searing intellect, brought images of the spirit world.”
– Violinist.com

“[...] played with dazzling pyrotechnics by Amaryn Olmeda using every violin trick in the book. Wonderful, wonderful!!”
– ConcertoNet.com