When Amaryn Olmeda entered her first violin competition at age 7, she didn’t win. So characteristically, she practiced and practiced, came back a second time and took the prize home to her family farm in Loomis. When she was awarded the opportunity to perform as a soloist with the Auburn Symphony, her world opened up.
“I’m a hard worker,” she says. “I got to be up on stage in front of people and share my ideas with them. I kept doing it and it kind of worked for me.”
“It’s all about expression. I like to communicate with the audience. To do that you have to really move and be into the music.” –Amaryn Olmeda
Since then, the now 13-year-old violinist has won numerous competitions including the 24th Annual Sphinx Competition in Detroit for young Black and Latinx classical string players. Riveting solo performances with Merced Symphony, Solano Symphony and Sacramento Youth Symphony Orchestra have earned her fans from around the world.
“It’s all about expression,” says Olmeda. “I like to communicate with the audience. To do that you have to really move and be into the music.”
Watch Amaryn Olmeda perform
In 2019, she played at Music in the Mountains SummerFest with Classical Tahoe’s beloved late conductor Joel Revzen. Before he died of coronavirus in May 2020, Revzen asked Olmeda for a repeat performance.
On Aug. 13, she will make good on that promise when she delivers Violin Concerto No. 3 in B-minor by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns with support from Classical Tahoe Orchestra.
“It was written for Spanish violinist Pablo de Sarasate,” says Olmeda of the 1880 composition. “He was only a teenager when he was requested to play it. The tempos are all really fast. It’s technically difficult, but really fun.”
That night’s performance will also feature Danzón No. 2 by Arturo Marquez and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F minor under the guidance of trailblazing guest conductor Gabriela Díaz-Alatriste.
Olmeda returns to close out the festival at the Aug. 15 Summer Gala with another French classic, Tzigane by Maurice Ravel, alongside pianist Anna Stoytcheva.
“He wrote it for Hungarian violinist Jelly d’Arányi,” says Olmeda. “It’s based on gypsy music. It’s not something that you would normally hear. It’s really flashy and lively.”
Olmeda will be playing an antique violin loaned from Bryan Campbell Fine Instruments and Bows in San Francisco. It is a rare instrument made by brothers Peter and Giuseppe Guarneri in Italy circa 1710.
“I love the warmth and colors of the instrument,” she says. “There is just so much you can do, so many different textures and ideas you can bring to the sound. You can make it sound really sweet and playful or really angry. I think classical music is very creative and beautiful.”
Olmeda lives on her family’s farm with her mother, father, three brothers, five goats, 50 chickens and a fat barn cat named Russy that couldn’t catch a mouse if his life depended on it. Olmeda typically practices violin five hours a day, running through her scales in the morning before starting homeschool. After a round of typical high-school courses, she resumes her afternoon practice. On Saturdays, she participates in a pre-college at San Francisco Conservatory of Music where she plays with a piano/cello trio and studies violin with Ian Swensen.
“I’m comfortable performing on stage,” says the confident, focused musician. “You just have to be brave. People just want to hear good music. If you do the hard work beforehand, it will make the audience happy.”
Olmeda begins live rehearsals with Classical Tahoe on Aug. 10.
“I’m preparing for the concert by listening to recordings and studying the score,” she says. “I had a master class with Hilary Hahn that helped me a lot with how to communicate with the orchestra. Some say I play like an older person in a young person’s body. As I become more mature, it’s easier to understand the music and express my ideas.”
Classical Tahoe kicks off on July 30 at 7 p.m. with Opening Night Under the Stars featuring guest conductor Ming Luke and soprano Laquita Mitchell. It continues through Aug. 15 with a vast and diverse schedule of music by composers such as Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Mozart, Joplin and other masters performed by artists from around the world on the bucolic campus of Sierra Nevada University in Incline Village, Nev.
Select performances will also be livestreamed from the website for free during the events on July 30 and 31, Aug. 6 and 7, and from Aug. 12 to 14 at 7 p.m. | classicaltahoe.org
Classical Tahoe
July 30-Aug. 15 | Times vary
Sierra Nevada University | Incline Village, Nev.
Livestream concerts
July 30-31, Aug. 6, 7, 12-14 | 7 p.m.
Free | classicaltahoe.org
Music Maker Faire & Family Concert
Aug. 8 | 11 a.m. | Free*
Chamber Concert
Aug. 10 | 7 p.m. | Free*
*Advance registration required online
