Hi there!
I’m a violinist studying performance with my violin, Icarus, at the Butler School of Music in Austin, Texas. I have an affinity for practice methodology and helping people push themselves to be more efficient in their practice. That being said, I’m also a big advocate for the mental health of musicians. I know first hand how tough it can be to battle mental illness or even just stress while constantly prepping for concert cycles. My hope is that my blog can help you manage practice and your mind productively.
Love your instrument, and yourself. The soul that forms between you and your music after you do those things will be beautiful.
The violin has been at my side since I was seven. Together, we have had many opportunities to play in masterclasses and ensembles in places from New York to Barcelona. I have had three major masterclasses with the Suzuki Music School of Westport (SMSW) including with violinists Augustin Hadelich, Rachel Barton Pine, and Linda Fiore. I have also gotten the chance to join the Vivace ensemble of SMSW on tour in Spain, 2018 and in Florida, 2020. I participated in Connecticut’s All-State orchestra competition in 2018 and my high school was chosen to represent the state of Connecticut at the competition in 2020. I was the inagural concertmaster of Ridgefield High School’s Concert Orchestra and the 2021-2022 concertmaster of RHS’s Symphonic Orchestra. I was also the New England Conservatory’s Summer Orchestra Institute’s symphony orchestra concertmaster in the summer of 2021. The Ridgefield Chorale’s pit orchestra took me on as a pit member in the winter of 2021 where I performed professionally for the first time. In my freshman year of college, I am participating in the University of Texas’s Symphony Orchestra (UTSO), the University of Texas’s University Orchestra (UTUO), and in a small student-led orchestra. I was nominated principal second violinist of UTUO as of this semester and was nominated concertmaster of the student-led orchestra this past December.
Professional bio:
Oliver is a violin performance major at the University of Texas at Austin. Butler School of Music, studying with Brian Lewis and previously, Dr. Andrew Smith at the Suzuki School of Music in Westport, Connecticut. In the past 12 years he has performed with many ensembles including the Ridgefield High School Symphonic Orchestra, Ridgefield Chorale Pit Orchestra, Connecticut All-State Festival Symphony Orchestra, New England Conservatory's Summer Orchestra Institute's Symphony Orchestra, Suzuki School of Westport's Vivace whom he went on tour with to Spain in 2018, and most recently, the University of Texas at Austin's University and Symphony Orchestra. He has also participated in masterclasses with Rachel Barton Pine (2021), Augustin Hadelich (2020), and Linda Fiore (2019). After his undergraduate studies he plans to pursue a career in symphony and pit orchestral performance. Upon completing a degree in violin performance Oliver will attend school for orchestral conducting, using his artistry to lead the same types of ensembles that made young Oliver passionately pursue a career as a professional violinist. Hoping to inspire the generation to come.