Marilyn de Oliveira

Marilyn de Oliveira, cellist, has enjoyed remarkable success as a soloist and orchestral and chamber musician. She has participated in a number of internationally known music festivals and been a winner in competitions.

A native of Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil, Marilyn was born into a musical family. She started taking lessons in cello at age six and by age fifteen was playing in the Orchestra Experimental de Repertorio in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and giving lessons and teaching chamber music at the Conservatorio do Instituto Adventista de Ensino in Sao Paulo.

In 1997 she came to the U.S., where she completed a B.Mus. degree in cello performance at Indiana University, studying under Emilio Colón. She continued cello study under Norman Fischer at Rice University, completing an M.Mus. in cello performance at RU in 2003.

During her study at IU and RU, she participated in several prestigious American music festivals, including the Tanglewood Music Festival in Lenox, Massachusetts, where de Oliveira received the Karl Zeise Memorial Cello Prize; the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina; and the Kent/Blossom Music Center in Ohio. She was also a participant in the Youth Orchestra of the Americas and has attended European music festivals.

After graduating from Rice University, de Oliveira joined the New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas, where she was a cello fellow for two years and served as a principal cellist during performances in Teatro Santa Cecilia, Rome, and Carnegie Hall. She became the acting Assistant Principal cellist of the San Antonio Symphony in September 2005.

In February 2006, she was the Bronze Award Winner in the Senior Division of the 9th Annual Sphinx Competition in Detroit, Michigan, the highest award given that year in cello. De Oliveira currently resides in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, Trevor Fitzpatrick, where she is Assistant Principal cellist with the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, a position she has held since September 2009.

ds/2012

Source: Numerous online sources (2012).