Keila Wakao

Born in 2006, Boston's own Keila Wakao began playing the violin at age 3 and was accepted as a student by former BSO concertmaster Joseph Silverstein when she was 6 years old. From age 9, Keila has been a student of Donald Weilerstein; she has also studied with Itzhak Perlman and Soovin Kim. After winning Menuhin in 2021, Keila is set to make her Boston Symphony Orchestra debut in September 2024; she is, of course, already an experienced performer, having taken the stage with prestigious orchestras since age 9. She plays a 1745 G.B. Guadagnini violin on generous loan from the Florian Leonhard Fellowship.