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 2025-2026 include debut performances with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, Tallahassee Symphony, Modesto Symphony, Williamsburg Symphony, and Shreveport Symphony, as well as return appearances with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Des Moines Symphony, Stockton Symphony, and Auburn Symphony. Olmeda will also debut in recital at the Celebrity Series of Boston.

Olmeda made her Lincoln Center solo debut on the 2024 Summer for the City Series. Later that season, she returned for her solo debut at David Geffen Hall on the New York Philharmonic’s Kravis Nightcap Series. She made her Carnegie Hall solo debut on the Sphinx Virtuosi tour at the age of 14, garnering rave reviews.

Recent highlights include debuts with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Omaha Symphony, and the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra at their New Year’s Concert Series, earning her a nomination for the San Francisco Classical Voice Audience Choice Awards.

In 2023, she recorded Carlos Simon’s Between Worlds on Deutsche Grammophon, praised by The Strad as “an impressive reading by the young musician.” In 2022, Olmeda performed for the San Francisco Conservatory Gala with Yuja Wang. At 13, Olmeda became the first member of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Opus 3 Artist’s Artist Apprentice Program.

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.

MAY 2025

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ACCLAIM

“Olmeda is clearly on her way to a stellar career. Combining a charismatic stage presence and audience appeal with pinpoint intonation, intense lyricism, and fluid technique, she gave notice that she is here to stay.”

– Classical Voice North America

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

"[A] Bay Area violin prodigy”

– San Francisco Chronicle

“[…] 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

“Violinist Amaryn Olmeda, first-prize winner at the 24th annual Sphinx Competition, is a remarkable talent. And at 15, she is no mere hotshot - she plays with nuance and fresh interpretive ideas, investing more into Ravel’s “Tzigane” than just faux-Gypsy showiness. The crowd responded to her every impetuous gesture and flourish, applauding quickly at every pause and then extravagantly at the close.”

– Cleveland.com