“YAEKO’S PERFORMCES TRANSCENDS THE SEPARATION BETWEEN HERSELF AND HER INSTRUMENT. ONE HEARS AN AUTHENTIC VOICE, ROOTED IN THE DEDICATION OF YEARS OF TRAINING, RESPECT FOR DIVERSE MUSICAL TRADITIONS, AND DEEP FAMILIAL TIES. ”
Yaeko Miranda received a BA in Music from the New England Conservatory of Music in Contemporary Improvisation in 2002 where she studied under Ran Blake and Hankus Netsky. Since graduating Yaeko has been a member of the world renowned Klezmer Conservatory Band (KCB) and has performed throughout the country in such venues as Avery Fischer Hall and Walt Disney Concert Hall to name a few. As a part of the KCB, Yaeko has had the honor of working with Itzhak Perlman and Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot on the ‘Eternal Echoes’ project, which was featured on the famous radio variety show, A Prairie Home Companion, at Symphony Hall and Barclays Center, and recorded for PBS's Great Performances.
In addition, Yaeko has had the privilege of performing alongside the great Stevie Wonder at the Boston TD Garden for the Songs in the Key of Life tour, jazz clarinetist Don Byron, actress/singer Bernedette Peters, and has opened for Andy Statman. She also played in the NY run of the musical 'Shlemiel the First' under the music direction of Zalmen Mlotek.
In 2011, Yaeko recorded her debut album. The Yaeko Miranda Elmaleh Group which consists of Michael McLaughlin (accordion), Grant Smith (percussion), Ehud Ettun (bass) and Brandon Seabrook (mandolin/guitar) playing throughout Boston at venues such as Club Passim, Boston Jewish Music Festival, Vilna Shul, Tufts University, and Granoff Hall.
“YAEKO’S SOUND CAN BE BEST DESCRIBED AS SOULFUL AND PASSIONATE. ”
Yaeko grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts and began violin lessons at the age of 3. She was classically trained at the New England Conservatory preparatory school under Fudeko Takahashi. She received many awards and soloed with many ensembles and orchestras in Massachusetts as a young woman.
Yaeko's musical style was influenced by her multicultural upbringing: her mother and father immigrated from France and El Salvador respectively in the 1960's. Her sound can partially attributed to the passionate, artistic, and musical tastes of her family. Yaeko's maternal grandfather was an accomplished impressionist painter and musician that performed with Django Reinhardt and other musicians during the 40's and 50's bohemian era in Paris. Her paternal grandfather in El Salvador was classically trained in guitar under Agustin Barrios Mangore and her great grandfather in Boston was a jazz clarinetist and owner of the second largest jazz collection in the U.S. during his time.
