Marika Yasuda

Marika Yasuda is a Japanese-American pianist and vocal coach based in San Francisco. She has been on the music staff at San Francisco Opera since 2022, where she completed her training
at the Adler Fellowship Program. Additional appointments include Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Palm Beach Opera, and New Orleans Opera where she has collaborated with conductors including Gemma New, Harry Bicket, Karen Kamensek, Eun Sun Kim, Ramon Tebar, Roberto Kalb, Joey Mechavich, and David Stern. The 2025/26 Season marks her debut with Lyric Opera of Chicago.

An accomplished recitalist, she maintains an active performance schedule performing at venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Seiji Ozawa Hall, Bennett Gordon Hall, War Memorial Opera House, Davies Symphony Hall, Taube Atrium Theater, Herbst Theatre, and the Green Music Center. She has performed with ensembles including the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera Orchestra, and eighth blackbird, and has worked with institutions such as Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, Yale University, Houston Grand Opera Butler Studio, Pocket Opera, Middlebury Song Fest, Concerts at Bradley Hills, and the Boulanger Initiative.

As a soloist, she has earned top prizes in competitions such as the Hellam Young Artists’ Competition, Virginia Waring International Piano Competition, Julia Crane International Piano Competition, and Music Teachers National Association competitions. She was the winner of the Oberlin Conservatory Concerto Competition, performing Samuel Barber’s Piano Concerto, and has worked closely with distinguished musicians including Leon Fleisher, Peter Serkin, Robert McDonald, and Meng-Chieh Liu.

Marika received degrees in Piano Performance and Vocal Accompaniment from Oberlin Conservatory and Indiana University, and has held artistic fellowships at the Merola Opera Program, Tanglewood Music Center, SongFest, and the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. She is currently a doctoral candidate in Collaborative Piano at Indiana University, and is on faculty as vocal coach at San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

^{Last updated: August 11, 2025}