Yuko Saito

Yuko Saito is a native of Nagoya, Japan. Raised on traditional teaching methods, her journey into the Suzuki world was inspired by two incredible teachers- Judy Blank and Carol Dallinger. 

Yuko is committed to the inside-out learning approach of the Suzuki method and her goal is to help her students develop a deep and personal sense of ownership in their music and their own abilities. 

Yuko holds a BM degree in violin performance with Suzuki Pedagogy emphasis from University of Evansville where she was a Presser Scholar, and a dual MM degree from East Carolina University in Violin Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy. She studied Suzuki pedagogy with Joanne Bath and Carol Dallinger and trained with Joanne Martin, Tom Wermuth, and Diane Slone. At ECU, she studied performance with Ara Gregorian. 

Yuko started her career in Sioux Falls, South Dakota where she ran the Saito Suzuki Violin Studio and worked with the Avera Family Wellness Program, a Suzuki-based school program modeled after El Sistema. She also taught at Southwest Minnesota State University and performed with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra. In 2013, she relocated to Hong Kong and became a violin/viola faculty and Director of Orchestras at Suzuki Music Academy of Hong Kong. During her time in Hong Kong, Yuko regularly performed as a member of the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong and was a founding member for chamber groups Victoria Trio and Hong Kong Chamber Music Collective. 

As a Celtic music enthusiast and fiddler, Yuko enjoys playing Irish and Scottish music for shows and dances. She has been in bands Heavens to Mergatroid, Trefoil, The Tramhoppers, and Hong Kong-based Over the Border.