Anna Olivia Amaya Farias
ABOUT
Anna Olivia Amaya Farias, born in Hamburg, is a cellist active as a soloist and chamber musician. She has performed in leading venues such as the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, and the Berlin Philharmonie, and has appeared at international festivals including the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Schwetzingen Mozart Festival, Festival de Música Cartagena, and the Festival d’Auvers-sur-Oise.
Anna Olivia Amaya Farias was born in Hamburg and received her musical training with Prof. Bernhard Gmelin, who taught her from 2007 to 2021. She completed her Bachelor’s degree at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre (HfMT Hamburg). Further studies took her to the Conservatoire de Paris, where she studied with Prof. Michel Strauss and Prof. Jérôme Pernoo, to the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin in 2023 to study with Prof. Claudio Bohórquez, and since April 2024 she has been continuing her studies at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre in the class of Prof. Alexey Stadler.
She is a multiple first-prize winner at the German national competition Jugend musiziert (first prizes in 2013 and 2016 in solo cello, and in 2013 in piano chamber music) and has received special prizes from institutions including the Jürgen Ponto Foundation, the German Music Foundation (Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben), the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. In 2020 she was awarded a special prize by Berenberg Bank, won first prize at Verão Clássico in Lisbon in 2021, and received first prize at the Concours Flame in Paris in 2022.
As a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed at the Elbphilharmonie and Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the Berlin Philharmonie, and at numerous international festivals, including the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Usedom Music Festival, Schwetzingen Mozart Festival, Sylt Chamber Music Festival, Russian Chamber Music Festival, Lac Léman Music Festival (Geneva), Festival de Música de Cartagena (Colombia), and the Festival d’Auvers-sur-Oise (France).
In chamber music, she has collaborated with artists such as Michaela Martin, Boris Kuschnir, Nobuko Imai, and Frans Helmerson, and has participated in masterclasses with David Geringas, Wolfgang Boettcher, Jens Peter Maintz, Gustav Rivinius, Mischa Maisky, Daniel Hope, Jérôme Pernoo, Frans Helmerson, Vytautas Sondeckis, and Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt.
Since 2013, Anna Olivia has been a scholarship holder of the German Music Foundation (Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben) and since 2019 also of Live Music Now Hamburg. She has received further support from the Oscar and Vera Ritter Foundation, the Horst & Gretl Will Foundation, the TONALi18 Academy, the Daniel Hope Academy (2019), and the Music Academy Villecroze (2022). From 2024 to 2026, she has been an academy member of the Staatskapelle Berlin and plays a cello by Charles François Gand (Paris, 1825).

ENSEMBLE

The cello duo Anna Olivia Amaya Farias and Fabian Sturm was founded in 2021, after the two musicians met during their studies in Paris.
Since then, they have been performing together across a wide range of concert venues and festivals, captivating audiences with their expressive interpretations and musical dialogue. Their performances have also been featured by NDR Television.
Based in Hamburg, the duo is supported by Live Music Now, an organization that brings live performances to people who are unable to attend concerts — including those living temporarily or permanently in hospitals and social institutions.
