Keila Wakao made her Boston Symphony Orchestra debut for the BSO’s 2024 Opening Night Gala under Andris Nelsons, in a concert also featuring Susan Graham and Lang Lang. She won the 2021 Menuhin Violin Competition Junior Division, the Composer Award (best interpretation of the commissioned piece), and the Gold Medal and Bach Prize at the 2021 Stulberg String Competition. In 2023, she received the Aoyama Music Foundation Award in Japan, the Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant, and won the Boston Symphony Concerto Competition. Keila also received the 2024 Next Generation Distinguished Cultural Achievement Award from the Japan Society of Boston.

 

Born in 2006 in Chestnut Hill, MA, Keila began violin at age 3 and studied with Donald Weilerstein from age 9. Currently, she is studying at the New England Conservatory on a Starling Foundation Full Scholarship, with Miriam Fried. Keila has performed worldwide at venues such as Symphony Hall (Boston), Cadogan Hall (London), Victoria Concert Hall (Singapore), and Carnegie Weill Recital Hall (New York). She made her solo debut at age 9 and has performed with various orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra Tokyo Philharmonic, Baden-Baden Philharmonic, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, and the Richmond Symphony Orchestra. In 2017, Keila performed and spoke at TEDxBoston. She also participated in the Perlman Music Program in summers 2018-2022.

 

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.