Education
BA Oberlin College
MA Juilliard School
DMA Juilliard School
About
Pianist Yasuko Oura has been praised for her sensibility and passion for collaborating with others. She maintains a busy concert and opera collaborations schedule while keeping an active teaching schedule. In addition to her appointment at DePaul University, she is currently a Lecturer of Collaborative Piano at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. Active in the vibrant Chicago music scene, Ms. Oura regularly works for Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Opera Theater, Music of the Baroque, and Grant Park Chorus, and enjoys performing a wide variety of music from Baroque to contemporary music. She has been a key member of the music staff for Des Moines Metro Opera for over a decade and was formerly the principal production pianist and coach for Florentine Opera for seven years. Past affiliations include companies such as Fort Worth Opera, Kentucky Opera, Madison Opera, Toledo Opera, and AIMS in Graz, Austria.
An avid chamber musician, Ms. Oura has performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall’s Weil Recital Hall, Harris Theater, Alice Tully Hall, and Merkin Hall. She is also the co-artistic director of Chamber Music at Bethany concert series, where members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and other prominent musicians come together for rare chamber music experiences. She has collaborated in recital with some of the world’s most exciting musicians, including Susanna Phillips, David Portillo, Susanne Mentzer, and Kyle Ketelsen. She has also served as the official pianist for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Wisconsin District and the McCammon Vocal Competition in Fort Worth, TX. She has been seen in performances for the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, the Bel Canto Foundation, WFMT, and WTTW’s Chicago Tonight. 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.