Belarusian-American Olga Amelkina-Vera is recognized as being “at the very forefront of composers writing for the guitar today” (Soundboard Magazine). Her works have been called “magical” (Soundboard), “the discovery of the evening” (Sarasota Herald-Tribune), “brilliant” (The Royal Gazette), “incandescent” and “hypnotic” (Fort Worth Star Telegram). Olga holds a Bachelor of Arts degree Summa Cum Laude from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in guitar performance from the University of North Texas, and a Master of Music degree in composition from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
Most recently, Olga’s solo guitar work Ensueño y Danza was chosen by the Guitar Foundation of America as the required piece for the 2027 International Concert Artist Competition. In September 2026, BBC Proms Composer broadcast hosts Emily MacGregor and Sarah Walker selected Olga’s work Ana-Lucía to play on air to represent An Tran’s album Ilumina, which they highlighted as one of the best new classical releases.
Olga is the first prize winner or laureate of many composition competitions. She was, for two years in a row (2024 and 2025), the first prize winner of the Adult Composition Division of the Music Grand Prix International Competition in NYC with her works Western Vista, New Oceans, and In the Golden Gleam. Her composition Submerged Worlds for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion won the 2017-2018 American Prize in the student instrumental chamber music division. Olga won first prizes in the 2013 Japan Guitar Ensemble Composition Competition for her quartet Cattywampus Rompus (Texas Tarantella) and the Austin Classical Guitar Society Composition Competition in 2009 and 2012 for her guitar quartets Ninochka and Nebulae.
Today, Olga’s works are heard worldwide. Her music has been performed and recorded by the Grammy Award winner David Russell, Bundesjugendzupforchester, Barnard-Columbia Chorus, Verdigris Ensemble, An Tran, Duo Chinoiserie, Patterson-Sutton Duo, René Izquierdo, Bokyung Byun, Michelle Areyzaga, Jiji Kim, Matt Palmer, Adam Holzman, Thibaut Garcia, Xavier Jara, Quatra Duo, Weimar Guitar Quartet, Canadian Guitar Quartet, Cuarteto Orishas, Atlantic Guitar Quartet, Kacherski-Morita Duo, Clarinet Meets Guitar, Kithara Duo, Plano Symphony Orchestra, New Texas Symphony Orchestra, Irving Symphony Orchestra, and many other professional and student ensembles and soloists. Her compositions are published through Productions d’Oz and self-published with Fernand Vera Publications. She is busy composing full-time, with a steady schedule of new commissioned works. Olga is in high demand as a performer, educator, conductor, and presenter, frequently getting invitations to perform solo and with her chamber ensemble Kithara Duo, speak about her compositions, and conduct guitar orchestras and composition workshops throughout the country. She lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of the United States with her husband Fernand Vera, their 10-year-old daughter, and their dog Trouble and cat Aristide.
To learn more and hear Olga’s music, please visit olgaamelkinavera.com and follow her on Instagram @olgaamelkinavera, Facebook.com/olgaamelkinaveracomposer, and on YouTube @olgaamelkinaveracomposer.
Press and Reviews of Olga’s Compositions:
On Ana-Lucía, recorded on album Ilumina by An Tran:
“The recording is well curated…, and just at the point it might become soporific, a new stimulus arrives. Olga Amelkina-Vera's Ana-Lucia for example shows more angular harmonic shifts. It's still playful - with a harder tone in places - yet hints at jazz sporadically.”
BBC Magazine
On album Ka Ao:
“This disc, bringing eleven of her works together, makes a very potent statement: she is at the very forefront of composers writing for the guitar today. I do not say this lightly. The range of musical thought, aesthetic depth, textural variety, and not least the ability to create virtuoso showpieces is exciting. It is brought to us by an "all-star" cast of players from the Americas and Europe.”
Soundboard
On Étoiles Par Grand Vent:
“Up next is Olga Amelkina-Vera's magical Etoiles Par Grand Vent. Inspired by an autobiographical novel by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the piece alludes to scenes in the novel. Readers of Soundboard will know of the very high esteem in which I hold Amelkina-Vera's music, and this gem of a work only adds to that appreciation.”
Soundboard
On The Heaven’s Hundred:
“Brilliantly weaving together the sounds of Cossack rural and religious tradition with those of anger, civil disturbance, people’s desperation and the destruction of innocence, this Chaconne-sized piece releases encroaching patterns of chaos which proceed to overwhelm its own underlying structures.
This is a grim metaphor for the plight of the Ukraine.
I also think that what we heard here is the birth of a new major work, important in its way as Picasso’s Guernica.”
The Royal Gazette
“Olga Amelkina-Vera, brillante guitariste et compositrice belarusse installée aux Etats-Unis depuis 20 ans, nous offre une ample composition, dont le thème initial, tonal, relève d’une écriture traditionnelle. Les variations qu’il suscite, virtuoses à souhait, font appel aux techniques les plus démonstratives, en plus des ressources naturelles de l’instrument.”
On Dreaming of Lions:
“Olga Amelkina-Vera’s guitar and guzheng duet is absolutely captivating. The way she blends the two instruments is just brilliant — the guitar’s warmth and the guzheng’s bright, shimmering tones complement each other so naturally. It’s such a refreshing and unique combination that works beautifully. You can really feel her deep understanding of both Western and Eastern musical elements, and the piece has this effortless flow that keeps you hooked from start to finish. I’m genuinely impressed by how well the harmonies and melodies come together. It’s not just technically well-crafted but also full of character and expression. I loved it and can’t wait to hear more of her work!”
Jin Yang, pipa concert artist
On Western Vista:
“A wonderful admixture of classical and pop guitar techniques, showing a wide variety of ideas and approaches, but still with a strong sense of forward motion between the various segments of the piece. Well done!”
Stefania de Kenessey, composer
On Pulsar:
“Olga Amelkina-Vera composed an amazing piece for the students at Harrison which challenged and excited them equally. Her expert coaching of the ensembles, the insightful thoughts that she shared with our student composers, and her conducting at the concert made for a phenomenal residency.”
Robert Phillips, D.M.A., Guitar Instructor, Harrison School for the Arts
On Submerged Worlds:
“In four movements and lasting nearly half an hour, Submerged Worlds is a very serious, sophisticated work creating a sound-world of its own. Its length alone shows how well the composer is able to develop and grow her material…Time and time again, the composer shows that beautiful moments need not be fancy or superfluous. One such sublime, highly expressive place occurs in movement 1 (from rehearsal letter B to C). Whenever extended techniques are used, such as in movements 2 and 3, it is always to serve the musical function. Very impressive.”
Helena Michelson, composer, judge for The American Prize
On Ode to Thalassa:
“I cannot thank you enough for the amazing piece your delivered both by writing as well as bringing it to life in the premiere performance. Ode to Thalassa is a magical work of great power and it shows that by writing it, you poured your utmost creativity into conveying the message of the subject. This piece uses lyricism and drama in an original and vivid way that mesmerizes the players and the listeners and captures their full attention and focuses it on the message of the piece. Various symbolisms of the piece are masterfully portrayed in each section of the piece and they reach directly for the listener’s heart. Ode to Thalassa is a piece that leaves a lasting impression on the audience. Olga, you brought the best out of my students in those two days and for you, they rose far beyond their musical comfort zone as the music transformed them to another level altogether. The whole experience was amazing, almost unbelievable.”
Dr. Miroslav Lončar, Park View High School
On Emily’s Garden:
“The composer sets these much-loved poems with a sense of lightness and fun. This audible twinkle in the compositional “ear,” and the many changes of meter remind me of the spirit of Barber’s Hermit Songs…These art songs…are exquisite and charming settings of lovely verses by “the poet at Amherst.”
Anne Harley, Scripps College, judge for The American Prize
“The real discovery of the evening were three original compositions by Olga Amelkina-Vera, who gently stretched the expectations sharing her delightful musical imagination.”
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
“Of two recent compositions by Amelkina-Vera, subtle effects defined the three character pieces in “Beings:” the low, menacing huff of the mysterious Minotaur; the harp-like strums of incandescent Sylphs; the hypnotic patterns unraveling across Salamander.”
Fort Worth Star-Telegram