Claudio Olivera

Departmental Pianist

Pianist Claudio Olivera began his musical studies in Venezuela at age eight and debuted as a soloist with orchestra at 12. A prize-winning performer, he earned the Van Cliburn Award at the Interlochen Arts Camp and received top honors in competitions such as the Yamaha Piano Competition (2002) and El Salón Nacional de Pianistas de Venezuela (2006-07).

Olivera has performed with nearly every major Venezuelan orchestra and internationally in Germany, Italy, Chile, Spain, France, and the U.S. Notable appearances include Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the RIAS Berlin International Youth Orchestra at the Rachmaninoff Festival in Catania, Italy.

His obtained an undergraduate degree in Production Engineering at the Universidad Simón Bolívar in Caracas, Venezuela. He also holds a Pianist Certificate from Juan José Landaeta Conservatory and a Master’s in Piano and Pedagogy from Germany’s Martin Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg, supported by a DAAD scholarship. He later earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from the University of South Carolina under Dr. Marina Lomazov.

A dedicated educator and collaborator, he has served as Adjunct Piano Faculty and Staff Accompanist at USC, received the Yamaha In-Residency Fellowship for innovative community engagement, and was a three-time recipient of the Steinway & Sons Top Teacher Award (2018, 2019, 2021). Since 2020, he has also worked in audio/video editing and livestream production for the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival, Seattle Chamber Music Society, and Vivace Music Foundation.

Based in Charlotte since 2021, Olivera often collaborates with Opera Carolina, rehearses and performs regularly at Myers Park Baptist Church and is the main accompanist for Queen City Performing Arts. In 2025 he joined the Department of Music at UNC Charlotte as the staff pianist.