The NMPhil is excited to present the Olga Kern International Piano Competition!

The New Mexico Philharmonic partners with pianist Olga Kern in Piano Competition, attracting an international level of musician.

The Competition deepens the New Mexico Philharmonic’s (NMPhil) long-standing relationship with Olga Kern who is loved and welcomed as a valued part of the culture of New Mexico. This new collaboration, the Olga Kern International Piano Competition, will also bring another level of recognition and support, as it will attract an international class of musicians, both as judges and competitors. Local audiences are delighted and look forward to this exciting event, and the New Mexico Philharmonic expects to attract regional and national audience members as well.

The Competition which will feature young professionals ages 18 to 32, is already gaining acclaim from international publications and the international panel of judges. It is putting New Mexico, Albuquerque, and the New Mexico Philharmonic squarely on the radar of piano artists and piano lovers from across the globe.

The Olga Kern International Piano Competition provides the New Mexico Philharmonic’s audiences an opportunity to see developing world-class pianists at the beginning of their professional careers. The finalists and winners of the Competition will go on to long and acclaimed careers across the globe, performing before diverse audiences on every continent. They will be known always, wherever they go, as winners of the Competition which is presented by the New Mexico Philharmonic. And the New Mexico Philharmonic audiences will always remember that their careers began here.

The New Mexico Philharmonic audiences are wildly enthusiastic about the Olga Kern International Piano Competition and love the idea of the Competition happening here, with their home orchestra, in their home state. Something like this, an international competition that already has global attention, has never happened before in front of them. Its increasing support here in New Mexico is a testament to this fact.

The first competition concluded in November of 2016—beginning an event that will endure for decades, helping to ensure the long-term health and vitality of the New Mexico Philharmonic.