Richard Octaviano Kogima is a Brazilian pianist, composer, and conductor, currently pursuing a Master’s degree in piano performance at the Zurich University of the Arts, in the class of Konstantin Scherbakov. 

His performances have recently been defined as “memorable and revelatory” (Gregory Sullivan, Theater Jones), filled with “multifaceted nuance and transparent sound” (Badische Zeitung, Südkurier). Having graduated from high school as a valedictorian, Richard received his Bachelor’s in piano performance at Universidade de São Paulo. He then entered Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris where he obtained his “Diplome Superieur d’Execution,” funded by a full scholarship from “Fond Brésil.” His former teachers include Eduardo Monteiro, Guigla Katsarava, Maria José Carrasqueira, and his grandmother, Helgard Ostermayer Octaviano.

Richard has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Brazil, the United States, and Europe in venues that include Tonhalle Maag and Tonhalle Kleiner Saal (Zurich), Salle Cortot (Paris), University Aula (Oslo), Mirabell Schloss (Austria), Howard Performing Arts Center (USA), Theatro Castro Mendes (Campinas, Brasil), and Auditório Claudio Santoro (Brazil).

A laureate of several international competitions, Richard has been awarded First Prize at the 25th Concours Internationale Flame (Paris), Landolt Competition Zürich, and the 5th Andrews International Music Competition (Michigan, USA); Second Prize at the Duttweiler-Hug Beethoven Competition (Zurich) and at the Florianopolis Latin-American Piano Competition (Brazil); and the “Press Award for Outstanding Musicianship” at the Olga Kern International Piano Competition (Albuquerque, USA) and an Audience Prize and “Best Performance of the Contemporary Work” prize at the Concours International Alain Marinaro (France). 

Among the music festivals and masterclasses Richard has participated in are the Emil Gilels Festival, Usedomer Musikfest, Germany; Festspillene i Bergen, Valdres Sommersymfoni, Norway; Mozarteum Sommerakademie, Austria; Chautauqua Institution Music Festival, USA; Festival Internacional de Inverno de Campos do Jordão, Brazil. He has worked in masterclasses and received musical insights from artist such as Maria João Pires, Leif Ove Andsnes, Herbert Blomstedt, Dimitri Bashkirov, Christian Zacharias, Jiri Hlinka, Robert Levin, and Jean-Louis Steuerman.

Richard has a parallel career as a conductor, having received training from Marc Kissoczy, Aylton Escobar, and Gil Jardim. In 2013, he was appointed principal conductor of the Carlos Gomes Choir, following conductor Turibio de Burgo. He also worked as the concertmaster and assistant conductor of the UNASP Youth Orchestra. Richard also dedicates time to composing for various musical forces, with emphasis in sacred music

Competitor, Aspiration Foundation Award-Winner, Semifinalists Honorable Mention Award-Winner, and Press Award-Winner: First Olga Kern International Piano Competition 2016.

Competitor, Semifinalist: Second Triennial Olga Kern International Piano Competition 2019.