Mikio (Miki) Sasaki is an Assistant Professor of Trumpet at the University of Oregon and member of the Atlantic Brass Quintet. Prior to his current appointment, Sasaki lived in Austin, Texas, where he served as Instructor of Trumpet at Texas Lutheran University and was a frequent performer in the Central Texas area. Previously, Sasaki was a member of the venerable Saint Louis Brass, and was based in New York City as a freelance musician and Adjunct Lecturer at the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music, where he was a trumpet instructor and director of the brass ensemble.

 

Raised in a family of classical, jazz, and bluegrass musicians, Sasaki is a flexible performer with the ability to switch seamlessly between classical, jazz, and other styles of music. He has enjoyed international and national performances with a wide variety of ensembles, including Atlantic Brass Quintet, Saint Louis Brass, yMusic, Chamber Music Northwest, Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, Talea Ensemble, Contemporaneous with the LA Philharmonic, Austin Symphony, Hawaii Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Richmond Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Broadway’s Matilda, Boss Street Brass Band, and as a soloist with the Austin Symphony. Sasaki also received a Grammy Award in 2021 with Experiential Orchestra for the album The Prison.

 

As a teaching artist, Sasaki has guided students from beginner to collegiate levels in their journeys to musical fulfillment. He has worked with numerous teaching artist programs, including Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program, the Little Orchestra Society, Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts, and Juilliard Precollege. During the summers, Sasaki currently serves on faculty for Mostly Modern Festival in Saratoga Springs, New York and for the annual Atlantic Brass Quintet Summer Seminar.

 

Sasaki earned his previous degrees at The University of Texas at Austin (DMA ’22), Yale School of Music (MM ’15), and The Juilliard School (BM ’13), studying with teachers Billy Hunter, Allan Dean, Mark Gould, Raymond Mase, and Ray Sasaki.