Artistic Director
Violinist Sandy Yamamoto has dazzled audiences in concert performances around the globe for the past three decades as a soloist and as a member of the Miró Quartet. The New York Times describes her performance as playing with “explosive vigor and technical finesse.”
Ms. Yamamoto began her violin studies at the age of 4. At 11, she made her solo debut with the North Carolina Symphony and has since appeared with orchestras throughout the US and Europe to critical acclaim.
With the Miró Quartet, she performed on the major concert stages of the world, regularly concertizing in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. As a member of the Quartet, she was a recipient of the Naumburg Chamber Music and Cleveland Quartet Awards, won First Prize at the Banff International String Quartet Competition and was one of the first chamber musicians to be awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant. She has shared the stage with many prominent musicians including Leif Ove Andsnes, Joshua Bell, Eliot Fisk, Lynn Harrell, Midori, Jon Kimura Parker and Pinchas Zukerman.
Her discography ranges from the complete Opus 18 Quartets of Beethoven to George Crumbs’ Black Angels and many pieces in between, and her recordings have won the prestigious Diapason d’Or Award and the CRF Award. As part of the Miró Quartet, she was also featured in Isaac Stern’s final documentary, “Life’s Virtuoso.”
Since leaving the Quartet, she has been appointed Associate Professor of Practice in Violin Performance at the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin. In 2016, she was the recipient of the coveted Butler School of Music Teaching Excellence Award. She also founded the Butler Trio with Miró Quartet cellist, Joshua Gindele and pianist, Colette Valentine. Ms. Yamamoto has since been enjoying a versatile performing career, playing concertos and recitals as well as leading noted chamber orchestras throughout the United States. For the 2024–25 season, she is Co-Concertmaster of the San Antonio Philharmonic at the invitation of their new music director, Jeffrey Kahane.
Ms. Yamamoto was invited as a guest speaker and role model for the winners of the 2003 Glamour Magazine’s Top Ten College Women Award in New York City. She gave a lecture titled the “Juror’s Ear” for the 2014 Menuhin International Violin Competition as well as adjudicated for the Coleman International Chamber Music Competition and the Coltman Chamber Music Competition. This year, she will be one of the judges for the Violin Society of America’s 25th International Competition.
Most recently, she has been appointed as the Artistic Director of the Austin Chamber Music Center. She is very excited about joining this wonderful organization and looks forward to serving the Austin community by bringing world class chamber music to the “Live Music Capital of the World.”
Enjoy upcoming ACMC performances by Sandy!