Oliver Rau

Oliver Rau made his debut as a soloist with an orchestra at the age of 14 and has since performed in major concert halls both in Germany and abroad with ensembles such as the Danube Symphony Orchestra and the Brunensis Virtuosi Orchestra under internationally renowned conductors including Uriel Segal (assistant to L. Bernstein) and András Déak, and has received numerous national and international awards.

In addition to his work as a soloist, chamber music is a major focus of his career. In 2021, Oliver founded the Thieriot Piano Trio, played in the Nichiteanu Trio, and his musical partners include Vilde Frang, Severin von Eckardstein, Johannes Krebs, William Coleman, Friedrich Thiele, Christoph Schickedanz, and members of the Vienna Philharmonic.

From 2021 to 2023, Oliver was an academician with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra; from 2023 to 2024, he performed with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra on a fixed-term contract (recording CD productions for Deutsche Grammophon); and since the 2024–25 season, he has been a member of the German State Philharmonic Orchestra of Rhineland-Palatinate. He regularly performs under world-renowned conductors such as Alan Gilbert, Daniel Harding, Jakub Hrusa, Manfred Honeck, Christoph Eschenbach, and Krysztof Urbański in major concert halls including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, the Vienna Musikverein, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, and the Tokyo Opera City Hall, and has appeared at festivals such as the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, the Moritzburg Festival, the Salzburg Festival, as well as in Prussia Cove and Lockenhaus.

He performs regularly with orchestras such as the Munich Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Dresden, and the Camerata Salzburg, as well as serving as section leader of the Hamburger Camerata and concertmaster of the Philharmonie Salzburg.

Born near Hamburg in 1994, Oliver received his first violin lessons at the age of six and began his studies at the age of 16 as a young student at the HfMT Hamburg under Prof. Christoph Schickedanz. In 2018, he earned a Bachelor of Music there under the same professor, and three years later, he received his Master of Arts from the Mozarteum in Salzburg under Prof. Lily Francis, where he completed his postgraduate studies in 2023 under Prof. Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet). From 2023 to 2025, he also studied with Prof. Alina Pogostkina at the Basel Academy of Music.

Oliver is also a passionate pianist and has performed as an accompanist at “Jugend musiziert” (1st Prize for Accompaniment) and at the Maritim Music Prize. In addition, he regularly plays the viola in the Prima String Quartet.