Olivia Skaja will be a senior at St. Olaf College this fall, where she is pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance. She is in the first violin section of the St. Olaf Orchestra, and has toured every year with them, notably to Carnegie Hall and Norway.  Olivia began private violin lessons at age nine, and has studied with Mary LaPlant, Alex DePue, Nathan Cole, Francesa Anderegg, and Natsuki Kumagui. Olivia was the first place winner of the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition in 2017, a soloist with the St. Olaf Orchestra on their 2019 fall tour, and most recently performed the complete Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Itasca Symphony Orchestra. She has spent many summers out of state studying at music festivals, including Northern Lights Music Festival, Meadowmount School of Music, and Interlochen Arts Camp. Additionally, Olivia is an avid fiddler, and has been fiddling since the age of ten. In 2019, she won her third state title at the Minnesota State Fiddle Championship, and additionally placed first at the Minnesota State Fiddler’s Association contest at the Minnesota State Fair.