Yuki Yasuda

Japanese koto player Yuki Yasuda is based in Los Angeles, California. She was born in Japan and began playing the koto at age twelve. She later majored in koto music at the Takasaki Junior Arts College and also received rigorous koto instruction under the tutelage of Tadao Sawai and Kazue Sawai, the masters of great modern koto music. Yuki served as an uchi-deshi (live-in apprentice) at the Sawai Koto Institute for three years and is a graduate of the NHK (Japanese National Broadcasting Company), traditional Japanese School of Music. Yuki has an extensive concert performance track, highlighted with numerous, recordings, and TV appearances throughout Japan. 

Since moving to New York in 2009, and to Los Angeles in 2014, Yuki performed extensively as a soloist, with ensemble groups and collaborated with musicians and composers of various genres. She performed at “The Lecture of The Japanese Traditional Music” at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA;, the “Heineken Jazz Fest,” Puerto Rico; “Taikoza (New York-based Japanese Drums group) Russia Tour,” two world-premiere koto concertos with the “Cape Ann Symphony Orchestra,” Gloucester, MA; “Quincy Symphony Orchestra,” Quincy, MA; “Yuki Yasuda Solo Koto Recital” New England Conservatory, Boston, MA; “Anime Boston” as a member of Ten, “BET Awards 2016,” Los Angeles, CA; “San Francisco International Arts Festival,” as a member of The Wooden Fish Ensemble, “Kenny Endo & Friends in Concert,” Anaheim, CA, many others. Moreover, she has toured in Argentina, Honduras, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Germany, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Russia. 

Yuki and her husband, Atsushi Asano (guitar and bass musician) founded her band “Ten,” in 2005. Ten is an instrumental world music band that blends the ancient sound of the Japanese koto with contemporary music instruments like the bass guitar, drum kit and utilizes multi-effect pedals to expand upon the unique and innovative sounds depicting the versatility of the koto instrument. Ten toured several cities throughout Japan and the U.S., intriguing audience members with their original song compositions and improvisations at the cross-section where traditional world music meets popular music genres.

Over and above Yuki’s performance career as a sought-after koto performer, she is also a passionate advocator for music education. In 1998, Yuki was awarded the first prize position at the Sawai Koto Institute’s Masters examination. Such an honorary recognition propelled Yuki to pursue a simultaneous career as a Teaching Artist providing koto lessons and workshops in Japan for ten years, followed by a four-year teaching position at the Boston Koto Academy. Since moving to Los Angeles in 2014, Yuki continues to maintain a private koto studio classroom, where she offers rudimentary to advanced level koto instruction catering to a wide range of students and educational backgrounds. 

-The Master of Sawai Koto Institute

-Member of the Japan Sankyoku Association