Marika Yasuda is a Japanese-American pianist and vocal coach based in San Francisco, CA. She has been on music staff at San Francisco Opera since 2022 where she played on productions of Poul Ruders’ The Handmaid’s Tale, Donizetti’s L'Elisir d'Amore, Gabriela Frank's El último sueño de Frida y Diego, Verdi's La Traviata, and Bright Sheng's Dream of the Red Chamber.  She frequently engages as a repetiteur at other major opera companies including Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Palm Beach Opera, and New Orleans Opera and has collaborated with conductors such as Karen Kamensek, Eun Sun Kim, Ramon Tebar, Roberto Kalb, Joey Mechavich, Michael Christie, David Stern and others.  Marika also holds a position as vocal coach on the collegiate faculty at San Francisco Conservatory of music. Upcoming 2025 season engagements include working at Sante Fe Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago.
 

As a collaborative pianist, Marika maintains an active schedule of recitals and orchestral concerts appearing at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Seiji Ozawa Hall, and Bennett Gordon Hall, as well as throughout the Bay Area at the War Memorial Opera House, Davies Symphony Hall, Taube Atrium Theater, Herbst Theatre, Mondavi Center, and the Green Music Center. She has performed with ensembles including the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera Orchestra, and eighth blackbird, and with opera and vocal institutions such as Ravinia Steans Music Institute, Tanglewood Music Center, SongFest, Yale University, Houston Grand Opera Butler Studio, Festival Napa Valley, Pocket Opera, Middlebury Song Fest, Concerts at Bradley Hills, and the Boulanger Initiate in Washington D.C. 
 

As a soloist, Marika has received top prizes in the Hellam Young Artists’ Competition, Virginia Waring International Piano Competition, Julia Crane International Piano Competition, and Music Teachers National Association competitions. She performed Samuel Barber’s piano concerto as a winner of the 2015 Oberlin Conservatory Concerto Competition, and has worked with artists such as Leon Fleisher, Peter Serkin, Robert McDonald, and Meng-Chieh Liu.

 

Marika earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. She is currently a doctoral candidate in Collaborative Piano at Indiana University under the guidance of Kevin Murphy and Anne Epperson. Marika is an alumna of the prestigious Merola Opera Program, and the Adler Fellowship Program at San Francisco Opera.