Biography
Olivia Skwara captured the attention of
audiences juries when she won the first
prize in the prestigious International Festival
for Young Pianists held in Siedlce Poland.
She is a laureate of several national and
international competitions in Poland, Italy
and Germany.
Born in Gdansk Poland to a family of
musicians Olivia gave her first public
performance at the age of seven.
At eleven she made her concerto debut
with the Polish Youth Orchestra performing
Haydn’s Piano Concerto.
Following her debut she was granted a
scholarship from the Chopin's
Society in
Warsaw and from the Polish Government
to continue her
studies.
Olivia studied under the legendary Lev
Naumov, who was nicknamed the
"Godfather
of the Russian piano school", at the
Tchaikovsky Moscow
State Conservatory
earning her degree in music.
She was certified as a piano performer, piano
teacher, accompanist and chamber ensemble
artist.
Two years later she completed her masters in music.
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Olivia was also studying with Irina Chukovsky, a great pianist,
laureate of the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.
Mrs Chukovsky considered Olivia one of her best students. |
Olivia works regularly with the Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra and her
performances with Samara and Belgorod Philharmonics as well as “Mihail
Jora” di Bacau Orchestra have won her outstanding praise and acclaim.
She appeared with many outstanding conductors including Zygmunt
Rychert, Tomasz Chmiel, Ovidiu Balan, Mikhail Shcherbakov and Igor
Shchadrin.
In recital Olivia has stunned her audiences in music halls around
Europe, including Poland, Gdansk and Warsaw Philharmonics, Italy,
France, Belgium and Russia, including regular appearances at the Moscow
Conservatory Small and Rachmaninov Halls and the Scriabin and Ermolova
Museums, in China Nanjing and Shenzhen concert halls, Hong Kong and in
the United States.
In 2004 she performed recital in Polish Museum in Chicago playing on
the famous piano of Polish pianist and composer I.J.Paderewski.
Olivia’s performances of Frederic Chopin's music has been described as
"nothing less than the poet-musician of the keyboard as her exquisite
artistry”.
She was invited to participate in the 9th and 10th International Piano
Festival "Musical Floralia - Music in Flowers" in Warsaw, in 2004 and
2005.
Olivia's repertoire spans every era of music.
Her live recordings were broadcast by Polish, Russian and American television and radio.
In 2006-2009 Olivia was teaching piano at university levels in China and in Ngai Lam College in Hong Kong, and performing in Asia. She was invited to participate in International Jakarta Music Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2008.
In 2009 Olivia was accepted into the MMus programme at the Royal Academy of Music in London to study with one of Britain’s leading pianists, Hamish Milne.
In summer 2010, Olivia was delighted to be offered a place as a member of the teaching staff at the Windsor Piano School, based on legendary Russian piano traditions. Since then, she successfully combines teaching with performing music.
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