Oliver Kern was born in 1970 in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany, where he began studying piano when he was only 5 years old. At a very young age, he embarked on artistic activity, distinguishing himself in the German music scene with brilliant results in international piano competitions. He graduated with honors in piano, conducting and choir conducting from the “Staatliche Hochschule für Musik” Academy in Stuttgart under Wan Ing Ong. He then perfected his piano studies with masters Rudolf Buchbinder and Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, at the “Musik-Akademie” in Basel and the “Mozarteum” in Salzburg. He obtains many awards in international piano competitions: first and second prizes in the Senigallia, Paris, Hamamatsu and Beijing Competitions.He comes to the attention of critics by winning two prestigious competitions: “ARD” Competition in Munich 1999, “Beethoven” Competition in Vienna 2001, in which he also wins the special prize for the best interpretation of Beethoven’s Sonatas. The latter victory gives Kern the distinction of being the first German to have achieved such an achievement.An acclaimed interpreter of Beethoven and Brahms, critics give him credit for technical virtuosity that is not an end in itself, but directed toward careful timbral and expressive research. His intellectual rigor leads him to the realization of singular cultural projects: he performs the complete piano works of Brahms in the 2003 Classix Festival in Braunschweig and in the 2004-2005 Music Season in Seoul, Korea. “With great intensity and poetry Kern shapes the cycle of Brahmsian works” (Braunschweiger Zeitung).
He has performed at major festivals and in famous halls in America, Asia and Europe, gaining public acclaim everywhere: Musikverein Vienna, Auditorium S. Cecilia Rome, Schauspielhaus Berlin, Musikhalle Hamburg, Herkulessaal Munich, Salle Gaveau Paris, Saitama Arts Centre Tokyo, Century Hall Beijing. He has played with famous orchestras, New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, China National Symphony Orchestra, Radiosinfonieorchestre in Berlin, Munich, Hannover and Vienna, conducted by Maestros Dennis Russell Davies, Michael Stern, Lü Jia, Marc Soustrot, Gerard Oskamp, Dmitri Yablonski. He has recorded for German, Austrian, French, Italian and Japanese radio and television.He has released several CDs on the “Realsound” label with solo works by Beethoven, Berg, Brahms, Chopin, Ravel, Schubert, Schumann, Scriabin, Stravinsky. Oliver Kern also teaches piano in International Advanced Courses and is often invited as a jury member in International Piano Competitions, including “Vianna da Motta” in Lisbon.
In May 2007 he performed a solo concert in honor and in the presence of Card.Tomas Spidlik in the great hall of the “Hradisko” palace in Olomouc.