Keila Wakao
1st prize winner of the 2021 Menuhin International Violin Competition
1st prize winner of the 2021 Stulburg International String Competition
2023 Aoyama Music Foundation Award for upcoming artists
2023 Salon De Virtuosi Career Grant
2024 Japan Society of Boston's Next Gen Distinguished Cultural Achievement Award
Keila Wakao made her Boston Symphony Orchestra debut for the BSO’s Season Opening Night Gala concert in September 2024 under Andris Nelsons.
She was also invited to perform as the sole performer at the unveiling of Seiji Ozawa’s sculpture at Ozawa Hall in Tanglewood (July 2025), an event attended by members of Seiji Ozawa's family, John Williams, and other distinguished guests.
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Keila Wakao won 1st Prize in the 2021 Menuhin International Violin Competition Junior Division and the composer award for outstanding performance of a commissioned work, and was also awarded the Gold Medal and Bach Prize at the 2021 Stulberg International String Competition. In 2023, she was awarded the Aoyama Music Foundation Award in Japan for upcoming artists, and is a recipient of Charlotte White's Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant in New York. In 2024, she was awarded the Next Generation Distinguished Cultural Achievement Award from the Japan Society of Boston, and was also featured on CBS Boston’s television news. ​
Born in 2006, Keila Wakao is from Chestnut Hill, MA, and began playing the violin at age 3. Former BSO concertmaster Joseph Silverstein accepted her as a student when she was 6 years old. From age 9, she studied with Donald Weilerstein. She worked with Itzhak Perlman and participated in the Perlman Music Program in summers 2018-2022. Currently, Keila is a second year undergraduate student of Miriam Fried at the New England Conservatory as a Starling Foundation Full Scholarship recipient.
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Named a “VC Artist” by Violin Channel, Keila Wakao has performed as soloist and in recital throughout the United States, Japan, Germany, Singapore, and the United Kingdom in venues such as Symphony Hall and Jordan Hall (Boston), Cadogan Hall (London), Victoria Concert Hall (Singapore), and Carnegie Weill Recital Hall (New York City). She made her solo debut with an orchestra at age 9 and has since performed with ensembles including the Boston, Tokyo Phil, Baden-Baden, Richmond, Eugene, Chattanooga, Adelphi, Kalamazoo, Resound Collective, and Reading symphony orchestras and the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra. In 2017, Keila was invited to speak and perform at TEDxBoston.
Keila plays on the Cremona 1690 “Theodor” Stradivarius violin on loan from the Ryuji Ueno Foundation and Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative. ​