Erika Yamada is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where she studied with Richard Killmer and received a B.M. in performance and the Performer's Certificate.  She was a member of the Florida Philharmonic and the Florida Grand Opera orchestras and has played principal oboe  with the Miami Chamber Symphony, the Miami City Ballet, and the Shinsei Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, Japan.  She has served on the faculties of the University of Miami, New World School of the Arts, Broward Community  College, and S.U.N.Y. at Geneseo and has been a panelist for the  National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts.