Oliver Mar is a 14-year-old New Zealand-born cellist who relocated to New York in 2022 after being accepted into the Juilliard Pre-College program, where he studies with Dr. Clara Minhye Kim.

Oliver is a top prize winner in numerous competitions, including the 2025 Bravura Young Artists Concerto Competition, the Island Symphony Young Performers competition, the 2024 Camerata Artists International Competition, the 2024 Young Soloists International Competition, and the 2023 International Grande Music Competition in New York. He has soloed with the Camerata New Jersey Orchestra and will be performing with the Bravura Philharmonic and Island Symphony Orchestras in 2025. Recently, he has been selected as a Fellow with From the Top, a platform dedicated to fostering and promoting talented young classical artists.

In 2024, Oliver attended the Morningside Music Bridge summer program at the New England Conservatory and will be attending the Perlman Music Program for the summer of 2025.

Oliver is also a composer. His works have been performed by members of the New York Philharmonic and featured on WQXR, New York’s classical music station.

PROGRAM 

SEMIFINALS – Tchaikovsky 

Variation on a Roccoco Theme, Op. 33

Variations 1 through 7

FINALS – Herbert 

Cello Concerto No. 2 in E minor, Op. 30

I. Allegro moderato

II. Andante tranquillo