Offstage

Olga Kern International Piano Competition

The Olga Kern International Piano Competition was announced in April, 2015. Open to pianists aged 18-32, the inaugural competition took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico in autumn of 2016, and the finalists performed with the New Mexico Philharmonic. The winners of the competition, Chen Guang (1st), Anna Dmytrenko (2nd), Anastasiya Naplekova (3rd), and Joshua Rupley (4th) received $11,000, $7,500, $5,000, and $2,000, respectively, in prize money. In addition, the 1st prize winner received future concert engagements in the US and Europe and a professional recording with Steinway. For more information, click here.

The Kern Foundation “Aspiration”

Formed by Olga and her brother, conductor Vladimir Kern, the Kern Foundation “Aspiration” is a noncommercial charitable organization formed in 2011. The main goal of the Foundation is to assist children who are gifted in music in developing their talent and create artistic opportunities for them in Russia and abroad. The Foundation also aims to financially support the preservation and development of cultural values. Lastly, the Foundation finds it important to provide assistance to artists of all ages who, for a variety of reasons, have found themselves in difficult financial situations. For more information, click here.