FREE Community Concert with the Anderson-Sasaki Duo

Artists

Rebecca Anderson Violin

Violinist Rebecca Anderson has appeared worldwide as a recitalist, chamber musician, and educator. Known for her “incisive musicality” (The Oregonian), recent appearances include performances at Carnegie Hall and tours across Europe, Asia, and South America.

Ms. Anderson’s passion for chamber music has led to festival appearances with Music@Menlo, Chamber Music Northwest, Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, the Savannah Music Festival, and Music From Angel Fire. She has performed in concerts presented by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, as well as appearances at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Library of Congress.

As an educator and arts advocate, Ms. Anderson has held faculty positions at the Crane School of Music SUNY Potsdam and as Interim Director of the Violin Program at Cornell University. She is also Assistant Teaching faculty at The Juilliard School. In 2019, she co-founded the Anderson-Sasaki duo, a violin/piano duo that creates residencies focused on strengthening community through varied interactive performances and presented recitals.

Ms. Anderson is founding co-director of VOTESart, a non-partisan organization that uses music to promote voter registration and civic engagement across the country. Originally from Portland, Oregon, she is an alumna of the Curtis Institute of Music, the Juilliard School, the Royal Conservatory of Music, and Ensemble Connect (formerly Ensemble ACJW).

Artist's Website

Mika Sasaki Piano

Praised as a “superb interpreter” (Fanfare) and for her “virtuosity…and sparkling sound” (Times Argus), pianist Mika Sasaki enjoys a versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician, and educator. She has performed across the U.S. and in the U.K., Italy, Japan, and Switzerland, appearing in venues such as the Library of Congress, the Metropolitan Museum, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Tokyo Bunka Kaikan. She has appeared as concerto soloist with the Sinfonia of Cambridge, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, 92Y Orchestra, and more recently, with the InterSchool Symphony Orchestra of New York, performing Amy Beach’s Piano Concerto.

A passionate chamber musician, Mika has performed with the Manhattan Chamber Players, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Chameleon Arts Ensemble of Boston, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, as well as in festivals such as Tanglewood, Music@Menlo, Chigiana, Yellow Barn, Aspen, and Taos. She is a member of Decoda, the affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall, and the powerhouse sextet, Ensemble Mélange. Dedicated to education and audience engagement, she has presented interactive performances in New York City and across the country, including residencies at String Theory and Chamber Music Northwest. She is an alumna of Peabody (B.M., M.M.), Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, and Juilliard (D.M.A.).

Based in New York City, Mika is a faculty member at The Juilliard School, where she teaches keyboard skills, piano, and chamber music in the College, Pre-College, and Extension Divisions. When not at the piano, she can be found tending to her houseplants, cooking, or chasing after her cat.

Artist's Website

Anderson-Sasaki Duo Duo

Rebecca Anderson, violin
Mika Sasaki, piano

Sharing a passion for chamber music and a strong belief that everyone in any community should have the opportunity to find a personal connection with music, violinist Becky Anderson and pianist Mika Sasaki joined forces to create imaginative programs of the violin-piano repertoire that can forge lasting and meaningful connections with audiences. Together, the Anderson-Sasaki Duo presents unique concerts and educational workshops that encourage dialogue and guide listeners through a personal musical exploration. They aim to share their zeal for the chamber music literature and the artistic process of performance with as many audiences as possible.

The award-winning artists have garnered much acclaim as soloists, collaborators, and educators, individually, each pursuing a multitude of artistic projects, appearing in major concert venues around the world, and collaborating with renowned ensembles. Both alumni of Music@Menlo and The Juilliard School, the duo began collaborating during their two-year fellowship with Ensemble Connect (formerly Ensemble ACJW), during which they took part in dozens of chamber music performances at Carnegie Hall, Skidmore College, public schools, and community venues around New York City and Saratoga Springs. More recently, they performed and taught at The Juilliard Summer Performing Arts in Geneva, Switzerland, and have a multi-year Community Engagement Residency with Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon.

Artist's Website