Yasuda, Marika

(Williamsburg, Virginia)

Pianist Marika Yasuda is currently a second-year Adler Fellow at San Francisco Opera, where this season, she joins the music staff of Bohème Out of the Box, and El último sueño de Frida y Diego, following last season’s engagements for La Traviata and Bright Sheng and David Henry Hwang’s Dream of the Red Chamber.

As a collaborative pianist, Yasuda maintains an active schedule of recitals and orchestral concerts, appearing at Carnegie Hall, Seiji Ozawa Hall, Herbst Theatre, Bennett Gordon Hall, and the Kennedy Center. She performed in the world premiere of Michael Gandolfi’s In America (2018) for voices and orchestra, an all-cello program at Concerts at Bradley Hills, and in concerts with the Boulanger Initiative in Washington, D.C. Yasuda has collaborated with ensembles, including eighth blackbird and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, and has worked with prominent opera companies and institutions, including Houston Grand Opera, Madison Opera, and Yale University.

Yasuda earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. She continued her education with fellowships at numerous festivals, including the prestigious Merola Opera Program, Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, Tanglewood Music Center, SongFest at Colburn, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and Gijon International Piano Festival. She is currently a doctoral candidate in Collaborative Piano at Indiana University under the guidance of Kevin Murphy and Anne Epperson.

During her graduate work, Yasuda served as coach accompanist for Indiana University Opera Theater in productions of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Gianni Schicchi, West Side Story, and Mason Bates’ The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs. As a soloist, she has received top prizes in the Hellam Young Artists’ Competition, Virginia Waring International Piano Competition, Julia Crane International Piano Competition, Oberlin Conservatory Concerto Competition, and Music Teachers National Association competitions.

Yasuda has always felt most fulfilled when working with others, enjoying collaboration both on and off the stage. In her spare time, she enjoys playing tennis, cooking meals with friends, and making collages using Japanese origami techniques.