2015 YoungArts New York Program to Kick Off Next Week

The National YoungArts Foundation's 2015 YoungArts New York program will take place from April 27 to May 3 and will offer life changing experiences to more than 100 aspiring artists -- all of whom are 2015 YoungArts Winners.

During YoungArts New York, these emerging artists will participate in interdisciplinary workshops and intensive Master classes with renowned masters in their field, including Tony and Emmy Award-winning actor Neil Patrick Harris (Theater); best-selling author Joan Morgan (Writing), acclaimed painter José Parlá (Visual Arts), Visionaire co-founders James Kaliardos and Cecilia Dean (Design Arts) and actress and comedian Rachael Harris (Theater).

These incredible young artists will also have the chance to showcase their talents for the public through two multidisciplinary performances at Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC)-one program curated by Mikhail Baryshnikov (BAC Artistic Director) and Pedja Muzijevic (BAC Artistic Administrator), and another directed by Theatre and Opera Director Jay Scheib; a multidisciplinary performance at New York Live Arts directed by Wicked Concertmaster and Violin Soloist Christian Hebel; and an art, design & photography exhibition, writers' readings, and film screenings at MoMA PS1. Tickets for the performances went on sale April 8th at www.youngarts.org/youngarts-new-york.

YoungArts New York is one of YoungArts' three regional programs (that also take place in Miami and Los Angeles), which are modeled after its signature program-National YoungArts Week-held annually in Miami. Through these regional programs, YoungArts engages hundreds of Winners who were chosen from a pool of more than 11,000 applications from 15-18 year old artists from around the country.

YoungArts Winners have an opportunity to receive cash awards of up to $10,000 (YoungArts has bestowed more than $12 million in monetary awards to date); are afforded access to significant scholarships (YoungArts has facilitated in excess of $60 million in scholarship opportunities in the past two years); and are eligible to be recognized as a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, as YoungArts is the exclusive nominating agency for this high honor for artistically-talented graduating high school seniors. They also become part of the YoungArts alumni network of more than 20,000 artists, many of whom have gone on to become leading professionals in their fields, including visual artists Doug Aitken, Daniel Arsham and Hernan Bas; musicians Terence Blanchard, Conrad Tao and Jennifer Koh; recording artists Josh Groban, Judith Hill, Nicki Minaj and Chris Young; New York Times bestselling author Sam Lipsyte; actors Viola Davis, Andrew Rannells, Anna Gunn and Kerry Washington; choreographer, répétiteur and former New York City Ballet principal dancer Philip Neal; Tony Award-nominated Broadway performer Desmond Richardson; Season 11 So You Think You Can Dance winner and current ensemble member for Broadway's On the Town, Ricky Ubeda; and Academy Award-winning director, editor, and cinematographer, Doug Blush.

WHEN & WHERE:

2015 YoungArts New York Performances, Exhibition, Readings and Screenings

Thursday, April 30 at 8:00 PM
Dance, Music, Theater + Voice Performance
Curated by Mikhail Baryshnikov and Pedja Muzijevic
Baryshnikov Arts Center, Jerome Robbins Theater
450 West 37th Street, Third Floor
New York, NY 10018
For directions and parking info, click here
Tickets: $15* General, $10 YoungArts Members & Alumni. To purchase tickets, click here.
**Please contact us for complimentary media tickets.

Friday, May 1 at 6:30 PM (Readings & Screenings begin at 7:30PM)
Art, Design + Photography Exhibition Opening, Writers' Readings & Film Screenings
MoMA PS1
22-25 Jackson Avenue
Long Island City, NY 11101
For directions and parking info, click here
Admission: Free. RSVP to YANY2015@youngarts.org required.

Saturday, May 2 at 8:00 PM
Dance, Music, Theater + Voice Performance
Directed by Jay Scheib
Baryshnikov Arts Center, Howard Gilman Performance Space
450 West 37th Street, Fourth Floor
For directions and parking info, click here
Tickets: $15* General, $10 YoungArts Members & Alumni. To purchase tickets, click here.
**Please contact us for complimentary media tickets.

Sunday, May 3 at 3:00 PM
Jazz, Music + Voice Performance
Directed by Christian Hebel
New York Live Arts
219 W 19th Street
New York, NY 10011
For directions, click here
**Please contact us for complimentary media tickets.

*Ticket fees apply.

To become a YoungArts member, visit www.youngarts.org/membership. For more information, visit www.youngarts.org/youngarts-new-york.

About the National YoungArts Foundation- The National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) was established in 1981 by Lin and Ted Arison to identify and support the next generation of artists in the visual, literary, design and performing arts; assist them at critical junctures in their educational and professional development; and raise appreciation for the arts in American society. Each year, there are approximately 11,000 applications to YoungArts from 15-18 year old (or grades 10-12) artists, and from these, approximately 800 winners are selected.

YoungArts provides these emerging artists with life-changing experiences and validation by renowned mentors, access to significant scholarships, national recognition and other opportunities at critical junctures throughout their careers to help ensure that the nation's most outstanding emerging artists are encouraged to pursue careers in the arts. To date, YoungArts has honored more than 20,000 alumni, including Doug Aitken, Josh Groban, Jenji Kohan, Desmond Richardson and Kerry Washington, with over $12 million in monetary awards; facilitated in excess of $60 million in college scholarship opportunities in the past two years; and enabled its participants to work with master teachers who are among the most distinguished artists in the world, such as Marina Abramovi?, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Plácido Domingo, Zaha Hadid, Jeff Koons, Robert Redford, Kathleen Turner, Carrie Mae Weems and Bruce Weber.

YoungArts is working with world-renowned architect and YoungArts Artistic Advisor Frank Gehry to transform the former Bacardi Tower and Museum buildings and three-and-a-half acre campus into its national headquarters, which will support expanded local activities in Miami and across the country. The new campus will feature a Gehry-designed performing arts center and park with state-of-the-art sound and video capabilities. Since opening the campus for programming in November 2013, YoungArts has held salons sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with Marina Abramovi?, Robert Redford, Justin Peck & Sufjan Stevens, Joshua Bell, Ben Folds and Lil Buck; hosted Olafur Eliasson and his Little Sun installation in partnership with MoMA PS1 and Fondation Beyeler; launched a Visual Artist in Residency program supported by The Related Group; held master classes for local music students with jazz icon Wynton Marsalis and opera star Plácido Domingo; produced an interdisciplinary performance on the campus with Robert Redford and Sibylle Szaggars Redford, Living Colour's Will Calhoun, and YoungArts alumni Dave Eggar and Desmond Richardson; premiered HBO's Joshua Bell: A YoungArts MasterClass; and hosted a concert series in partnership with III Points Presents featuring FKA twigs, James Blake and SBTRKT.

For more information, visit youngarts.org, facebook.com/YoungArtsFoundation or twitter.com/YoungArts. To watch a brief video about YoungArts, click here.