Mika Sasaki
Professor/Piano
Praised as a “superb interpreter” (Fanfare) and for her “virtuosity… and sparkling sound” (Times Argus), pianist Mika Sasaki enjoys a versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician, and educator. She has performed across the U.S. and in the U.K., Italy, Japan, and Switzerland, appearing in notable venues such as the Library of Congress, the Metropolitan Museum, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Tokyo Bunka Kaikan. Her performances have been broadcasted on WQXR, WFMT, WCRB, KQAC, and Radio Sweden. She has appeared as concerto soloist with the Sinfonia of Cambridge, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, 92Y Orchestra, and more recently, with the InterSchool Symphony Orchestra of New York, performing Amy Beach’s Piano Concerto.
Mika is the pianist of the powerhouse sextet Ensemble Mélange (formerly SHUFFLE) and a newly appointed core member of Decoda, the affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall. As a guest artist, she has performed with the Manhattan Chamber Players, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Connect (alum), Chameleon Arts Ensemble of Boston, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Passionate about community and audience engagement, she has presented interactive performances at schools and community venues all around New York City and across the country. Together with violinist Becky Anderson, the Anderson-Sasaki Duo has been invited to Chattanooga, TN, for a Community Engagement Residency at String Theory at the Hunter (2022), and to Portland, OR, for an ongoing residency with Chamber Music Northwest (2022-25).
She is an alumna of summer programs such as the Tanglewood Music Center, Music@Menlo, Accademia Chigiana, Yellow Barn, Aspen, Icicle Creek, Mannes Beethoven Institute, and Taos School of Music, and has performed at festivals including the Focus!, Weekend of Chamber Music, Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival, Monadnock Music, Time:Spans, Shandelee, and the Rite of Summer Music Festival. She has also taught and performed at pianoSonoma, Rushmore, Omaha Conservatory SoundWaves, Taubman Piano Festival, WCYO Charles Ives Music Festival, Summer Performing Arts with Juilliard (Geneva, Switzerland and Orlando, FL) and Music@Menlo’s Chamber Music Institute.
Based in New York City, Mika is a faculty member at The Juilliard School, where she is the Supervisor of Secondary Piano in the College Division and teaches keyboard skills, piano, and chamber music in the College, Pre-College, and Extension Divisions. She is an alumna of the Peabody Conservatory (B.M., M.M.), Ensemble Connect—a two-year fellowship program of Carnegie Hall, Juilliard, and the Weill Institute, in partnership with the NYC Department of Education—and The Juilliard School (D.M.A.), where she studied with Joseph Kalichstein and received the Juilliard Career Advancement Grant upon graduation. When not at the piano, she can be found tending to her houseplants, cooking, or chasing after her cat. mikasasaki.com
