Today we’d like to introduce you to Liska Yamada.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
From the time I could walk and talk, I was trying to imitate my two older sisters playing the piano. My parents could tell I had a fascination for music immediately, and let me start lessons on the piano when I was four years old. Unfortunately, I got a little bored with the piano and started losing interest in practicing and improving. Coincidentally, around that time, I started at a new school where they held a music department open house. I was originally interested in starting flute lessons, but the harp instructor intercepted me and gave me a demonstration on the harp. I immediately fell in love with the instrument, and my 9-year-old self had absolutely no idea that this would change the entire course of my life.
I played my first paid gig about one year after starting harp lessons and began performing the harp at weddings the following year. I continued to grow musically and love playing the harp, but it wasn’t until I went to my first harp focused music camp in high school that I realized this could be real a career path for me.
I attended the University of Arizona where I received a bachelor’s degree in Music Performance and went on to receive a Master of Music from Peabody Conservatory. After finishing my education, I knew I wanted to be on the West Coast and wanted to have more opportunities for performing other genres and styles of music outside of the classical realm.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
With careers in freelancing, some of the most valuable lessons you learn come from mistakes you make along the way. When I first started working as a freelancer, I did not require any kind of agreement/contract from my clients for private events. Unfortunately, that led to some uncertain and unsafe working conditions. I would often have to track down payments at the event or in the following days/weeks after the event had finished. In my first few years of working, I also felt some pressure of having very few connections after moving to a new city, so I felt a need to take a lot of gigs that were underpaid, long commutes, or ridiculous hours in order to network with other musicians and clients.
I am fortunate that the majority of my family and friends have been so supportive of my decision to become a professional musician. As many people pursuing careers in the arts have experienced, I have run into my fair share of discouraging and pessimistic people and even teachers. Just days after starting my studies for my master’s degree, an advisor told me that I should start taking organ lessons so I could at least get a job at a church when I graduated because in his opinion, there just weren’t enough jobs opportunities for harpists to make a living. Sadly, I know a lot of musicians who have been discouraged by dangerous comments like that, but comments like this only gave me more motivation to show that it is possible to succeed.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a professional harpist based in the Los Angeles area where I perform for a wide variety of events including weddings, private events, high tea, corporate events, chamber and symphonic concerts, studio recordings, as well as music videos and TV-Film. While I received my training in classical music, since living and working in Los Angeles, I am grateful for amazing opportunities and work with a variety of clients. Recently, I have noticed the majority of my wedding clients request arrangements of pop and R&B songs for their ceremonies and receptions. It has been a nice shift from just performing the same traditional wedding songs every time, plus it gives a more personal and unique element to events. The guests are always surprised and excited when they hear me performing songs by artists like Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars and Ariana Grande on the harp.
I am thankful to have been a band member for Melanie Martinez’s K-12 Tour. It is extremely rare for pop artists to bring a full-sized concert harp on an international pop tour, and it was a huge honor for me to be a part of the experience! One of the most exciting parts of the tour was knowing it was some of the audience members’ first time seeing and hearing a harp in person.
This year I have continued my work with pop and R&B artists in addition to some upcoming TV/Film projects. Most recently, I performed with Grammy Nominee Steve Lacy for his show “Give You the World,” live-streamed from the Greek Theatre.
The harp is a complex and versatile instrument, and it can be intimidating for anyone who has never been exposed to it. Over the last few years, one of my goals has been to bring the harp into the limelight to help gain more interest and hopefully help with creating more jobs for harpists.
What makes you happy?
When I’m not performing or practicing music, I love listening to music to find inspiration. During the pandemic lockdowns, it was difficult to find anything that inspired me to play my instrument and it became hard for me to even listen to music. I happened to come across a video of a BTS interview and their charismatic energy and enthusiasm was so infectious it helped bring some joy back to my life. Their music is so different from the style I typically perform or listen to so I found it refreshing. Both the fan base and the artists a have such a positive energy and message, it’s impossible not to be happy when I’m watching/listening to their content. I even made a few harp arrangements of their songs that I can perform for some of the private events I play at.
Pricing:
- – Private Events / Weddings: $400+
- – Private Lessons: $80+
Contact Info:
- Website: www.liskaontheharp.com
- Instagram: littleliska
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRk12FE9H2-a9UHZqgcgLvw
Image Credits
David Suh Laurie Bailey
