Bio:
Yukitada Onitsuka, DMA, has been a faculty member of Youngstown State University Dana School of Music since 2019. His duties at YSU include teaching private lessons and directing the Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble. In 2022, he received the Part-Time Teaching Excellence Award from Youngstown State University. Prior to YSU, Dr. Onitsuka taught at Northern Kentucky University and the University of Dayton.
In addition to his teaching, Dr. Onitsuka is the principal tubist of the South Bend Symphony Orchestra and the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. He also frequently performs with the Dayton Philharmonic, Columbus(OH) Symphony and Springfield Symphony(OH) orchestras. In addition, he has played with the Chattanooga Symphony, the Louisville Orchestra, the Lexington Philharmonic, and the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra in Japan. He received the Orchestra Fellowship from the Aspen Music Festival in 2012 and 2013 and performed with the Aspen Festival Orchestra as the principal tubist. Dr. Onitsuka has appeared as a guest soloist both in the United States and Japan. He has also played solo and chamber recitals in both countries.
Dr. Onitsuka was the winner of the Harvey Phillips Big Brass Bash XVIII solo competition in 2004 and a finalist in the 2010 ITEC Arnold Jacobs Orchestra Excerpts Competition. Dr. Onitsuka holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Oregon, and a Master of Music, an Artist Diploma, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Dr. Onitsuka's students have been successful in multiple competitions both nationally and internationally, including a gold medal winner at the 2024 Leonard Falcone International Euphonium Tuba Festival. Dr. Onitsuka is a Buffet Crampon B&S artist.