Olwen Miles
The LSO have been such a big part of my development through the Strings Experience Scheme and it’s really an honour to continue my relationship with such an esteemed organisation.
Olwen Miles is a rising star in the world of classical music, known for her vibrant performances and technical excellence. At just 23 years old, she has already made a significant mark as an emerging talent. Based in London but born and raised in Palermo, Sicily, Olwen studied with Iuliu Hamza and Remus Azoitei, and developed as a uniquely versatile performer with a deep interest in bringing unheard repertoire to new audiences. She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree at the Royal Academy of Music under the guidance of So-Ock Kim, where she recently completed her Bachelor’s degree with First Class Honours.
Olwen is a versatile musician, equally at home performing solo recitals, chamber music, and orchestral works. In 2019 she performed at Wigmore Hall as a soloist, where she returned in 2022 when chosen as a ‘rising star’ to perform the chamber orchestra arrangement of Mahler Fourth Symphony by the Royal Academy of Music for the Bicentinary Celebration. She has performed as a soloist with the Maidenhead Symphony Orchestra, Brescia Masters Orchestra, and Watford Symphony Orchestra and performed Saint Saens’s Rondo Capriccioso at the Peles Castle in Romania. In 2021 she collaborated with Andrea Dieci in a performance of Piazzolla’s ‘Histoire du Tango’ at the Livorno Music Festival.
Olwen has performed in masterclasses from numerous notable musicians, such as Prof. Marco Rizzi, Alina Ibragimova, Jack Liebeck, Paola Tumeo, Gregory Sandomirsky, Kirill Troussov and James Ehnes. Her orchestral experience includes participation in the LSO Strings Experience Scheme and various Royal Academy projects, such as performing Strauss’s ‘Metamorphosen’ with the leaders of the Berlin Philharmonic and playing alongside LPO members at the Royal Festival Hall. She has lead the Royal Academy Symphony Orchestra on multiple occasions, under the baton of Sir Mark Elder, with whom she performed Ravel’s Ma Mére l’Oye and other works, and two performances under Roderick Cox of Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony and the UK Premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Alaraph, both at the Academy and the Aldeburgh Festival.
Alongside her performing career, Olwen has also earned a variety of prizes from National and International Competitions among which are: the youngest ever winner of the Premio S. Francesco di Paola 2016; First Prize at the 36th National Music Competition a.m.a. Calabria 2015; First Prize at the XXIII International Competition
Gianluca Campochiaro 2014, being awarded a solo performance at the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania. In 2020 she won the Arthur Felsenstein Leavers Award at the Purcell School.
Olwen has been a member of the Regency String Quartet since 2022, performing across the UK and winning several prizes, including the Wolfe Wolfinston String Quartet Prize at RAM. They represented the Academy at the Hong Kong Music Festival through the Elton John Global Exchange Program, and have performed at the Aldeburgh Festival alongside the Ligeti Quartet. They were awarded the 2025 Royal Overseas League Strings Ensemble Prize and were selected as Kirckman Society Artists. She also regularly performs with the London Concertante Chamber Orchestra and other groups.
She currently plays a 1767 Testore violin on generous loan from the Royal Academy of Music Strings Museum.
