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Presented by the Emerson/Harris Program for Private Study Solo Recital Series
Livestream: https://mta.mit.edu/viewlisten/live-killian-hall
About the Performers
Justin Yamaguchi is a 19-year-old violinist, pianist, and composer from Westwood, Massachusetts majoring in mathematics at MIT. He currently studies violin with Lynn Chang as a member of the Emerson/Harris Fellowship program and previously studied with Peter Zazofsky (BU). He studied piano with Helena Vesterman and composition with Matt Hagle. Developing his love for music from a young age, he began piano lessons at age five, took up the violin at six, and started composing music by age ten. Over the years, he has been the state winner of the Music Teacher National Association (MTNA) Composition Competition multiple times. As a pianist, he has won top prizes at the Bay State and Steinway Piano Competitions; as a violinist, he was named a National YoungArts Winner and was co-winner of the 2025 MIT Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition.
An avid orchestral and chamber musician, Justin has served as concertmaster of the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra's senior orchestra. He has also played in the Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA) All-State Orchestra and the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra. Justin has attended various festivals, including Berkshire High Peaks Festival and Boston University Tanglewood Institute’s String Quartet workshop, and has participated in masterclasses with Augustin Hadelich, as well as members of the Muir and Parker string quartets. At MIT, he has performed with AXIOM chamber orchestra and Chamber Music Society, and serves on the executive board of the MIT Ribotones. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with friends and family.
About the Emerson/Harris Program for Private Study
Support for private musical study is available for students through the Emerson/Harris Program (E/HP), which offers merit-based financial awards for outstanding achievement on instruments or voice in classical, jazz, or world music. Each academic year, the program awards Scholarships and Fellowships to nearly seventy students who commit to a full year’s study and participate in the musical life of MIT.
Auditions for the program are held at the beginning of each academic year. Private teacher selections, made in consultation with the E/HP jury heads, may include instructors from MIT staff and throughout Greater Boston. The Emerson/Harris Program is funded by the late Mr. Cherry L. Emerson, Jr. (SM, 1941), in response to an appeal from AssociateProvost Ellen T. Harris (Class of 1949 Professor Emeritus of Music). The Emerson/Harris Masterclass Series is supported, in part, by the Robert L. Malster (1956) Fund.
