Sharon Yamada, a member of the New York Philharmonic since 1988, has performed extensively on both the East and West Coasts. She performs regularly with the New York Philharmonic Ensembles at Merkin Hall and has appeared with the New Jersey Chamber Music Society. Yamada has performed frequently in the summer at the Grand Teton Music Festival. Other summer activities have included the Aspen, Norfolk, and Chigiana (Siena, Italy) music festivals. Formerly assistant concertmaster of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Yamada has also appeared in concert with Orchestra New England and the Wallingford Symphony. She is a former member of the Hofstra String Quartet, which was in residence at Hofstra University.
Yamada received her Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music under the tutelage of Szymon Goldberg and Syoko Aki. While earning her undergraduate degree in architecture from Yale College, she appeared as soloist and concertmaster with the Yale Symphony. She is an alumna of the Music Academy of the West, now a partner in the New York Philharmonic Global Academy. A native of Los Angeles, Yamada attended the Crossroads School for the Arts and Sciences and was a student of Alice Schoenfeld.
