Olivia Adams

Olivia is a pianist, teacher, researcher, author, and music festival adjudicator. She holds a MA in Music and Feminist Studies from the University of Ottawa, an Honours B.Mus. in Piano Performance from Western University, and is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Interdisciplinary Music Research (Music and Education & Critical Disability Studies) at the University of Ottawa. She is the Director of Education at Lotus Music, a music school and research hub dedicated to delivering adaptive music education to the neurodiverse and disability communities.

Olivia has spoken across Canada, the US, and in Portugal and Finland, giving workshops on accessibility, inclusivity, and diversity in the music studio, gender and music, teaching the piano music of BIPOC composers, and teaching contemporary music to young students. Olivia is an in-demand adjudicator of piano in music festivals across Canada. She is a researcher on gender and music in Canadian music conservatories and is the author of Loud and Clear: A Guide to Levelled Piano Music by Women Composers in the 20th and 21st Centuries which includes nearly 4,000 pieces of music levelled for the pianist from Preparatory levels to a professional level which is now approved for any Conservatory Canada piano exams.

Olivia has written articles for the Canadian Music Teacher Magazine, ORMTA Notes Magazine, and the book Hands-On Piano. In 2020 received a Canadian Government SSHRC grant for her research on gender and race in the conservatory curriculum, and she presently holds a four year SSHRC-CGS grant for her doctoral research. Olivia has won the CFMTA Lorna Wanzel Prize for her academic writing at the undergrad, masters, and doctoral levels.

Olivia has almost a decade of piano teaching experience and is affiliated with the Ontario Registered Music Teacher’s Association and the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers. In addition to her MA and B.Mus, Olivia holds a Piano Pedagogy Certificate from the Royal Conservatory of Music. Her students thrive in music festivals and examinations and have received gold medals for top marks in the province.

Olivia is the founder of Ottawa’s Music by Women Marathon – a fundraising concert initiative to raise money for women’s shelters in Ottawa through performances of music written by women. Olivia is a solo and collaborative performer, and has performed lecture recitals and solo recitals in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Mississippi, and Portugal. Her repertoire always centres on the music of women, highlighting composers often overlooked by the classical canon. Olivia plays in a piano duo with her husband, Nick Busch, and the two have performed around southern Ontario at chamber music festivals and concerts.

Olivia aims to elevate the voices of women through her performance, research, speaking, and writing.