Annie Asuka Yano

First Violin

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Annie Asuka Yano joined the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in 2011. She moved to Houston, Texas at age two and began her violin studies at the age of five with Beni Shinohara. The following year she continued under the tutelage of Kenneth Goldsmith. After seven years, Annie returned to Japan where she studied with Tsugio Tokunaga, the former concertmaster of the NHK Symphony. While in Tokyo, she enrolled at the Toho Gakuen School of Music. Upon returning to the US in 1998, Annie entered the Juilliard School Pre-College Division in New York City. She received her Bachelor's Degree from The Juilliard School in 2004 with Naoko Tanaka, and her Master's Degree in 2007 studying with both Ms. Tanaka and Joel Smirnoff. 

Annie has participated in many music festivals, including the Aspen Music Festival, Saito Kinen Festival (Japan), New York String Seminar, Tanglewood Music Center, and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival (Germany). She has also been a member of the Verbier Festival Orchestra (Switzerland), Mito Chamber Orchestra and concertmaster for the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy Orchestra. In 2013 by personal invitation of Seiji Ozawa, she became a member of the Saito Kinen Orchestra.

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Annie would like to thank her family, teachers and friends for always being there for her.