Miya Saito-Beckman is a Korean-American violinist and educator. She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Violin Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Oregon, where she studied with Fritz Gearhart. She has been a regular performer with the Eugene Symphony, Eugene Concert Choir Orchestra, and South Dakota Symphony Orchestra. Miya has appeared as a soloist with the Sunriver Music Festival Orchestra and the Central Oregon Symphony, and served as concertmaster of both the University Symphony and Camerata during her time at Oregon. Her additional training includes chamber music studies with the Calder and Arianna Quartets at the Britt Music Festival, as well as master classes with James Ehnes and Rachel Barton Pine.
In addition, Miya is deeply passionate about traditional folk music and is a nationally recognized fiddler. She is a four-time finalist at the National Fiddling Championship and is also the four-time Oregon State Fiddle Champion. Miya has studied and collaborated with members of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble while attending the Global Musician Workshop. In the past, she has been a recipient of the Oregon Music Hall of Fame Scholarship, the Sunriver Music Festival Young Artist Scholarship, and the American String Teacher Association (ASTA) Alternative Strings Award. Her students have won state and national titles in violin and fiddle competitions around the country. She has performed alongside musicians Darol Anger, Abigail Washburn, Bruce Molsky, Roy “Futureman” Wooten and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest). Summer festivals and camps she has taught at have been the Chamber Music Camp of Portland, the University of Oregon Symphony Camp, the Fiddlestar Youth Camp in Nashville, Corvallis Youth Symphony Camp and the Northwest Suzuki Institute. She has also been on faculty with the Bronx Conservatory of Music, Third Street Music Settlement, the Hochstein School of Music, and ROCmusic. Currently, she maintains a private studio both online and in Sioux Falls, while also serving as faculty and secretary of the Executive Board with the Redfish Chamber Music Festival.
In her free-time, Miya loves watching soccer, cooking, and exploring outdoors with her husband, orchestral conductor and violinist, Nicholas Sharma and their Border Collie, Hudson.