Yasuko Oura, Piano

Biography

Yasuko Oura is the principal production pianist and coach for Florentine Opera and is also on the music staff for Lyric Opera of Chicago and Des Moines Metro Opera, and formerly for Fort Worth Opera, Kentucky Opera, Madison Opera, Toledo Opera, and AIMS in Graz, Austria.  She has worked with such distinguished conductors as Harry Bicket, Jane Glover, and Christopher Larkin.  Active as a recitalist, she has received national recognition as a virtuoso collaborative pianist, with concert appearances in notable venues as Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, and Carnegie’s Weill Hall.  Past seasons include performances with singers such as Susanne Mentzer and Susanna Phillips, as well as performances for the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, the Bel Canto Foundation, WFMT, and WTTW’s Chicago Tonight. In addition, she is the artistic director of the NSUC Concert Series. She currently resides in Chicago, where she works with Grant Park Orchestra Chorus, Music of the Baroque, Chicago Opera Theater, Light Opera Works, and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Wisconsin District. Ms. Oura has received fellowships to San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program, Tanglewood Music Center, Aspen Opera Theater Center and Music Academy of the West. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and master’s and doctoral degrees from the Juilliard School, where she was a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow.