Praised for his emotional energy and technical finesse, Oliver Salonga has performed in the concert halls of the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Philippines, Australia, and China.
He collaborated with prominent musicians, such as conductors Albert Georg Schram, George Ellis, Arturo Molina, and Ruggiero Barbieri. He has been invited as visiting artist at music festivals like Neuberg an der Donau Music Festival and Halle International Music Festival in Germany, Perugia Music Fest and Athenaeum Piano Festival in Italy, JFJC Music Institute Festival in Philippines, EuroArts Academy Winter Festival in South Korea and FAIM Summer Festival in China. His performances were radio broadcasted And live streamed at WLHH 104.9, WXEL 90.7, DZFE 98.7 and Dulwich College, UK.
As an avid chamber musician, with Korean pianist, Dr. Heeseung Lee, they formed a piano duo ensemble, “Duo Bravura”, to promote two-piano works of 21st century composers. Recently, he formed Yulanhua Trio with Shanghai based musicians, Linda Shi and Caity Quinlan, to bring chamber music outside to more intimate performance spaces. Salonga is an exclusive KNS Classical Artist. His two CDs entitled “Four Worlds” and “Russian Pictures” will be released later 2022.
Salonga is the Gold Medal winner of the 2008 Jeonju International Piano Competition in South Korea. He has also won the Zellen Piano Prize at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He has gained accolades from Hilton Head International Piano Competition, Florida International Piano Competition, and Scottish International Piano Competition.
Oliver Salonga received his Artist Diploma and Master of Music in Piano Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He also received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance with minors in Theory and Analysis, Arts Management, and Collaborative Arts from the University of Southern California where he held the Sylvia Grancell Award for his entire doctoral residency. Oliver has received guidance from outstanding pianists, such as Antonio Pompabaldi, Sergei Babayan, Daniel Pollack, Norman Krieger, Roberta Rust, Jerome Lowenthal, and Robert McDonald.
He is a professor at the Piano Conservatory of European Academy of Fine Arts Piano Conservatory and University of Santo Tomas, Artistic Director of Hangzhou Music Institute and artist faculty at FaceArt Institute of Music in China. His students have won first prizes in New York International Music Competition, Paris and London Grand Prize, China International Franz Liszt Competition, Singapore International Youth Competition and Hong Kong International Competition. His students have been admitted to some of the finest musical institutions such as the Juilliard School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Peabody Conservatory, Hannover Hochschule, Tokyo College of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy. Dr. Oliver Salonga embraces the Russian School of Piano Performance Tradition.
Oliver Salonga regularly holds masterclasses in Asia, among them at China’s Ernst Piano Foundation Masterclasses Series, Korea’s EuroArts Academy Winter Festival, Thailand’s Princess Galyani Vadhana Institute of Music and Yamaha Music Academy, Singapore’s Yong Siew Toh Consevatory of Music and Tanglewood Music School, UAE’s Dubai Piano Institute and AbuDhabi Cultural Foundation, Philippines’ University of the Philippines, University of Sto. Tomas, Philippine High School for the Arts and Cultural Center of the Philippines. He has also given lectures and teaching workshops about “Shaping Artistic Individuality and Creating Sound World” and “Preparation, Programming, and Psychological Control in International Piano Competitions” around the world.
