Olga Kern

Kern was born Olga Vladimirovna Pushechnikova ({{langx|ru|Ольга Владимировна Пушечникова}}) on 23 April 1975 in Moscow, Russian SFSR. Her parents are both pianists, and she is related to the Russian socialite and memoirist Anna Petrovna Kern. Her great-grandmother was the mezzo-soprano Vera Pushechnikova.{{cite news | author=Sarah Bryan Miller | title=Pianist Kern to make St. Louis Symphony Orchestra debut | url=http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/pianist-kern-to-make-st-louis-symphony-orchestra-debut/article_2675a790-623a-5196-843c-92cf6d76f3ed.html | work=Saint Louis Post-Dispatch | date=2010-11-21 | access-date=2017-05-22}} Kern began studying piano at age five with Professor Evgeny Timakin at the Central Music School of Moscow and gave her first concert at age seven in the same city. She won her first international competition, the Concertino Praga Competition, at age 11 in Czechoslovakia. At 17, she won first prize at the first Rachmaninoff International Piano Competition. While in school, she received an honorary scholarship from the President of Russia Boris Yeltsin in 1996.

Kern continued her studies at the Moscow Conservatory with Professor Sergei Dorensky and continued her postgraduate studies at the same school. She also studied with Professor Boris Petrushansky at the Accademia Pianistica 'Incontri col Maestro' in Imola. She adopted her mother's surname, Kern, professionally as her international career developed. From 1989 to 1994, Kern held a scholarship with the “New Names” Foundation.

Kern attended the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1997 and did not progress past the R1 level. Kern attained international prominence when she became the first woman in over thirty years to receive the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Gold Medal in the Eleventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in June 2001, which she won jointly with Stanislav Ioudenitch. She appears in three documentaries about the competition: Playing on the Edge (2001), They Came to Play (2008), and The Cliburn: 50 Years of Gold. An additional documentary was made about Kern following the 2001 Van Cliburn competition, titled Olga's Journey (2003).{{cite web|author=James R Oestreich | title= A Pianist Who's On Her Way Up |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/09/arts/music-high-notes-a-pianist-who-s-on-her-way-up.html |work=New York Times | date=2004-05-09 |access-date=2014-02-28}}

Besides performing, Kern is an active music pedagogue, and has conducted master classes at such locations as Yale University, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and New York City's 92nd Street Y.{{cite web|title=What's On|url=https://www.rcs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/3166-WhatsOn_Feb_Jun17_FINAL-2016_11_25.pdf|website=Royal Conservatoire of Scotland|access-date=8 March 2017}} Kern has been a jury member for several international competitions including Grand Prix Animato in Paris, France; the Scottish International Piano Competition in Glasgow, Scotland;{{cite web|title=The 2017 Competition Jury|url=http://www.scottishinternationalpianocompetition.com/the-2017-competition/jury/|website=Scottish International Piano Competition|access-date=17 March 2017}} Amadeus Competition in Brno, Czech Republic;{{cite web|title=News: Olga sits on the jury for the Amadeus Competition in Brno|url=http://olgakern.com/news/olga-sits-on-the-jury-for-the-amadeus-competition-in-brno/|website=Olga Kern|date=10 February 2014|access-date=17 March 2017}} and the Top of the World International Piano Competition in Tromsø, Norway.{{cite web|title=Members of the Jury|url=http://topoftheworld.no/the-jury/|website=Top of the World International Piano Competition|access-date=17 March 2017}} Kern was jury chairman for the Seventh Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition in June 2016.{{cite web|last1=Lowry|first1=Mark|title=2016 Cliburn Amateur Competitors|url=http://www.theaterjones.com/ntx/2016cliburninternationalamateurpianocompetition/20160619130701/2016-06-18/2016-Cliburn-Amateur-Competitors|website=Theater Jones|access-date=8 March 2017}}

Kern is a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences’s Division of the Arts. She was artistic director of the Cape Town Summer Festival from 2006 to 2011 and frequently returns.{{cite web | title= Hollywood Bowl: Olga Kern | url= http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/philpedia/olga-kern | access-date= 2014-02-28 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140308015216/http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/philpedia/olga-kern | archive-date= 2014-03-08 | url-status= dead }} In September 2017, Kern joined the piano faculty of the Manhattan School of Music.

In 2016, Kern launched the [http://olgakerncompetition.org Olga Kern International Piano Competition] for pianists between the ages of 18 and 32.{{cite web|title=Olga Kern International Piano Competition Launches|url=https://www.musicalamerica.com/news/newsstory.cfm?storyid=37255&categoryid=5&archived=0|website=Musical America|access-date=8 March 2017}} Taking place every three years in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the competition's mission is to "provide the venue for young pianists to develop international careers through a competition that is recognized globally for its value and excellence."{{cite web|title=The Olga Kern International Piano Competition|url=http://olgakerncompetition.org/about/|website=Olga Kern International Piano Competition|access-date=8 March 2017}} Kern serves as artistic director and president of the jury.

The inaugural competition took place in Albuquerque November 13–20, 2016. Twenty-two contestants representing fourteen countries were chosen from submitted video auditions and judged by Kern along with eight other internationally-recognized judges.{{cite web|last1=Sullivan Isaacs|first1=Gregory|title=Cliburn winner Olga Kern launches namesake piano competition in New Mexico|url=http://www.star-telegram.com/entertainment/arts-culture/article54461860.html|website=Star Telegram|access-date=8 March 2017}} The competition gave away a total of $30,000 in prize money with the winner receiving $11,000 along with a professional recording on the Steinway & Sons Label and tours throughout Europe and the United States. Vladimir Kern conducted the finalist concert with the New Mexico Philharmonic.{{cite web|last1=Roberts|first1=Kathaleen|title=Pianists from around globe to compete in Olga Kern competition|url=https://www.abqjournal.com/887942/key.html|website=Albuquerque Journal|date=13 November 2016 |access-date=31 March 2017}}

In honor of the festival and of Kern, Albuquerque mayor Richard Berry issued an executive order declaring November 20 "Olga Kern Day," coinciding with the final day of the competition.{{cite web|last1=Carlson|first1=Carolyn|title=We're Dancing in the Show!|url=http://alibi.com/news/52303/Were-Dancing-in-the-Show.html|website=Alibi|date=10 November 2016 |access-date=8 March 2017}}

In 2012, Kern established the “Aspiration” foundation with her brother, conductor, composer, and teacher Vladimir Kern. The aim of the foundation is to provide financial and artistic assistance to developing young musicians throughout the world.

Kern lives in New York City. Her son is Vladislav Kern, who also plays the piano and graduated from Juilliard’s Pre-College School in May 2016.{{cite web|last1=Nyffeler|first1=Jann|title=Olga Kern: RPO soloist, Van Cliburn gold medalist, mom|url=http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/lifestyle/2016/05/26/olga-kern-rpo-soloist-van-cliburn-gold-medalist-mom/84912696/|website=Democrat and Chronicle|access-date=8 March 2017}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{official|http://www.olgakern.com}}
• [http://www.foundationaspiration.org/ Aspiration Foundation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629030742/http://www.foundationaspiration.org/ |date=2021-06-29 }}
• [http://www.cami.com/?webid=769 Olga Kern management, CAMI]
• [http://www.caecilia.ch/artiste.php?id=109 Olga Kern Management in Europe, Caecilia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326094334/http://caecilia.ch/artiste.php?id=109 |date=2016-03-26 }}
• [http://www.vladislavkern.com/ Vladislav Kern official website]
• [https://olgakerncompetition.org Olga Kern International Piano Competition]

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Category:1975 births

Category:Living people

Category:Russian classical pianists

Category:Russian women pianists

Category:American people of Russian descent

Category:Moscow Conservatory alumni

Category:Manhattan School of Music faculty

Category:Child classical musicians

Category:Prize-winners of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition

Category:21st-century women musicians

Category:21st-century classical pianists

Category:American women classical pianists

Category:American classical pianists

Category:American women music educators

Category:Russian women music educators

Category:American women academics

Category:21st-century American women