Miya Väisänen

Second Violin

Member since 2005

‘Music was around me from day one. My father was Principal Second Violin in the orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and my mother teaches the violin and viola. I have two younger brothers who are also both professional musicians.’

Miya Väisänen was born in London and started learning the violin at the age of three. She was a Junior Exhibitioner at the Royal Academy of Music where her teacher was Sheila Nelson. As a teenager she took additional lessons with Jean-Jacques Kantorow in Holland and then went on to complete her undergraduate degree at the Royal Academy of Music in London, studying with György Pauk and Diana Cummings.

After graduation, Miya moved to Berlin where she continued her studies with Ilan Gronich. She subsequently completed two years as a member of the Orchestra Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic under the guidance of Christian Stadelmann and Rainer Sonne. After trialling successfully with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Miya was offered a job in the Second Violin section of the LSO, moving up to the number four seat a year later.