Keila Wakao

Born in 2006 in Boston, MA, Japanese-American violinist Keila Wakao has rapidly gained international recognition as one of the leading young artists of her generation. Praised for her “crystalline sound” (Boston Globe) and the “special energy she brings to the stage,” she captivates audiences with her exceptional musicality, technical command, and expressive depth beyond her years.

Wakao is a recipient of the 2026 Avery Fisher Career Grant and won First Prize at the 2021 Menuhin International Violin Competition Junior Division, where she also received the Composer Award for Outstanding Performance of a Commissioned Work. Her major appearances include her Boston Symphony Orchestra debut at the 2024 Season Opening Night Gala under the direction of Andris Nelsons, and her Tanglewood Music Festival debut in July 2026 with Nelsons and the BSO, performing the Barber Violin Concerto. This fall, in October 2026, Yo-Yo Ma will be inviting Wakao to join him on a six-concert tour of Taiwan and Japan, where they will perform Shostakovich Piano Trio No. 2.

Wakao has also appeared at distinguished events, including as the sole performer at the unveiling of Seiji Ozawa’s sculpture at Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood in 2025. In November 2025, she premiered Bobby Ge’s Violin Concerto with David Alan Miller and the Albany Symphony. Her debut CD with Octavia Records, featuring the final performances of her teenage years, was released in July 2026.

Wakao has received further honors including First Prize at the 2026 National Schadt String Competition, the Gold Medal and Bach Prize at the 2021 Stulberg International String Competition, the 2023 Aoyama Music Foundation Award for Emerging Artists in Japan, the 2023 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant in New York, and the 2024 Next Generation Distinguished Cultural Achievement Award from the Japan Society of Boston. In 2017, she was invited to speak and perform at TEDxBoston. 

Wakao made her solo debut with orchestra at age nine and has since performed with ensembles including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Symphony, Baden-Baden Philharmonie, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Albany Symphony, and the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra. She has appeared in leading venues including Symphony Hall in Boston, Cadogan Hall in London, Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore, and Carnegie Weill Recital Hall in New York City.

Wakao began playing the violin at age three. At six, she became a student of former Boston Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Joseph Silverstein, and from ages nine to eighteen studied with Donald Weilerstein. She has also worked with Itzhak Perlman and participated in the Perlman Music Program from 2018 to 2022. She is currently a second-year undergraduate student of Miriam Fried at the New England Conservatory as a Starling Foundation Full Scholarship recipient.

Wakao performs on the 1690 Cremona “Theodor” Stradivarius violin, on loan from the Ryuji Ueno Foundation and Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative.