Young Concert Artists Reveals 2024-2025 Season Featuring a Carnegie Hall Performance and More

Young Concert Artists has revealed a full slate of engagements for its roster of rising performers during the 2024-2025 season.

Through a rigorous audition process, honed over more than 60 years, YCA annually selects a new class of the most outstanding young musicians to take part in its three-year YCA Jacobs Fellowship. Artists selected for the program benefit from a holistic system of support and opportunities, including mentorship, training, career management and high-profile debuts in New York and Washington D.C. Throughout their tenure, emerging artists benefit from YCA's connections with the industry's managers, concert presenters, conductors of major orchestras, and financial supporters, as well as its long-standing reputation for discovering and furthering the careers of extraordinary young artists. YCA alumni include such luminaries as Emanuel Ax, Julia Bullock, Anne Akiko Meyers, Jeremy Denk, Ray Chen, Anne-Marie McDermott, Richard Goode, Dawn Upshaw, Mason Bates, Zlatomir Fung, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Kevin Puts, Pinchas Zukerman, Randall Goosby and Sasha Cooke, among many others. The Final Auditions for selecting the newest YCA artists will take place on Sunday, October 27, 2024 at Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center in New York, followed by a winners' concert taking place on Monday, October 28, 2024 at Gilder Lehrman Hall at The Morgan Library & Museum.

In the last three years, the Young Concert Artists roster has seen a meteoric rise in bookings across North America, more than doubling pre-pandemic levels. YCA artist managers have greatly expanded the reach and demand of each of the artists, resulting in busier concert calendars, higher-profile debuts and greater industry attention. Highlights of the 2024/2025 season include: percussionist Michael Yeung performing in the season opener at Carnegie Hall; debuts by cellist Benett Tsai, soprano and pianist Chelsea Guo, bass-baritone Joseph Parrish, violinist Oliver Neubauer, and YCA's first guitar duo, Ziggy & Miles, at Kaufman Music Center; and YCA Composer-in-Residence Alistair Coleman's world premiere of a new work at Carnegie Hall.

In an annual milestone for the YCA organization, the next class of YCA artists will be selected through the Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, culminating in a final round on Sunday, October 27, 2024 at Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center. Streamed live by The Violin Channel, the finals will be a thrilling all-day event culminating in the announcement of the 2024 winners and the newest members of the YCA Jacobs Fellowship. The 2024 YCA Winners' Concert will then take place on Monday, October 28 at Gilder Lehrman Hall at The Morgan Library & Museum. YCA will introduce the winners of the 2024 Susan Wadsworth International Auditions in an evening of music and conversation, as these new talents perform selections from their winning auditions and engage the audience in short interviews.

Throughout the 2024-2025 season, YCA artists are also featured in individual and small group performances including New York and Washington D.C. debuts. The season's New York debuts include YCA artist Michael Yeung, percussionist, performing in The Peter Marino Concert on Sunday, October 17, 2024 in Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall. Works by J.S. Bach, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Philippe Hurel, Georges Aperghis, Iannis Xenakis, Astor Piazzolla, and James Wood are featured in this program, along with a world premiere by YCA Composer-in-Residence Alistair Coleman. In a second New York debut, Bennett Tsai, cello, and Hyejin Kim, piano, take the stage at Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center on Wednesday, December 4, 2024. In this program, highlighting pieces by Beethoven, Barber, Ginastera, Penderecki and Brahms, Tsai celebrates music as an act of homage, with each composer's featured work paying tribute to something or someone great.

On Monday, May 12, 2025, the YCA Season Finale concert will take place in Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Artists to be showcased in the finale include cellists James Baik and Benett Tsai, clarinetist Alex Fiterstein, violists Hsin-Yun Huang and Nokuthula Ngwenyama, flutist Marya Martin, viola, baritone Randall Scarlata, and more, performing works by Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, Brahms, and Zhou Tian.

Ziggy & Miles, the guitar duo comprising two brothers from Melbourne, Australia, also make their New York debut through YCA this season. Their performance is scheduled for Thursday, March 6, 2025 at Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center. In this program, they highlight works from Latin America and Australia that inspired them to put their brotherly differences aside. Pieces from composers including Astor Piazzolla, Nigel Westlake and Radamés Gnattali will be showcased, alongside their own arrangement of Debussy's Suite bergamasque.

On Wednesday, March 25, 2025, Joseph Parrish, bass-baritone, will make his New York debut at Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center for a performance in The Peter Jay Sharp Concert. The program spans multiple genres ranging from German Romantic to American Songbook to Gospel, creating a communal musical space accessible to all audiences. On Tuesday, April 29, 2025 at Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center, Oliver Neubaer, violin, will also make his New York debut through YCA, alongside Janice Carissa, piano, with a performance in The Rhoda Walker Teagle Concert. In this program highlighting pieces from Schubert, Bartók, Zwilich and Strauss, each selection contemplates both the heights and depths of human experience, culminating in a call to reach for the stars and a yearning for something beyond our world.

YCA artists are also featured this spring in the Morgan Library Series at the Morgan Library & Museum in Manhattan. The popular noontime recital series streams live on the YCA and Morgan Library Facebook pages, the YCA YouTube channel and The Violin Channel. On Wednesday, February 26, 2025, the Morgan Library Series spotlights Chaeyoung Park, piano, in a program featuring works by Bach, Mozart, Ana Sokolovic, and Alexander Scriabin. On Wednesday, March 26, 2025, the library and museum presents YCA on tour with artists including Risa Hokamura, violin; Chaeyoung Park, piano; Alexander Cox, cello; Anthony Trionfo, flute; and Hsin-Yun Huang, viola, in a wide-ranging program featuring composers including Mozart, Bloch and Ravel.

On Thursday, April 24, 2025, the library and museum hosts Erin Wagner, mezzo-soprano, in a program including Dominick Argento's work From the Diary of Virginia Woolf and Mahler's Rückert-Lieder.

Benett Tsai, cello, Michael Yeung, percussion, Ziggy & Miles, guitar duo, and Oliver Neubauer, violin, also make their Washington D.C. debuts through YCA this season. Tsai opens the season in a concert on Thursday, October 10, 2024 at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Commenting on this program, highlighting works from Ginastera, Beethoven, Barber and Brahms, Tsai said: "The pieces I have chosen are all brought together by a common thread, with each composer paying tribute to something or someone great, a gesture that I find to be deeply meaningful. Whether it be Beethoven's homage to Mozart, Ginastera's visceral exploration of the Argentine landscapes, or Brahms' reverence for Bach, I hope to give you a glimpse into what moved these great composers to write their remarkable and captivating music."

Yeung's Washington D.C. debut is set for Thursday, November 14, 2024, also at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. In a program of Bach, Debussy, Ravel, Philippe Hurel, Georges Aperghis, Iannis Xenakis, Astor Piazzolla and James Wood, Yeung showcases a vast percussion sound palette and musical canon, including keyboard works arranged for marimba and vibraphone.

On Wednesday, February 19, 2025 at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, Chelsea Guo, soprano and piano, will perform alongside Eden Chen, piano, in a program of works by Fauré, Chopin, Ives and Ravel. Songs by Pauline Viardot, Kurt Weill, Stephen Sondheim and others will also feature in this concert.

On Wednesday, March 19, 2025, Ziggy & Miles make their Washington D.C. debut at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Their program features pieces from Piazzolla, Nigel Westlake and Radamés Gnattali, alongside their own arrangement of Debussy's Suite bergamasque.

Neubauer's Washington D.C. debut is set for Tuesday, April 22, 2025, also at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. He performs a program of Schubert, Bartók, Zwilich, and Strauss for The Alexander Kasza-Kasser Concert alongside Janice Carissa, piano.

Young Concert Artists 2024-2025 Season Calendar

Sunday, October 27, 2024 starting at 10:00am

YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions - Final Round
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/event/2024-finals/

Monday, October 8, 2024 at 7:30pm

2024 YCA Winners Concert
Gilder Lehrman Hall, The Morgan Library & Museum | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/event/yca24-winners/

Thursday, October 10, 2024 at 7:30pm

Washington Debut Bennett Tsai, cello
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater | Washington D.C.
Link: yca.org/event/tsai-dc/

Thursday, October 17, 2024 at 7:30pm

NY Debut: YCA Opening Night: Michael Yeung, percussion
Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/event/yeung-ny/

Thursday, November 14, 2024 at 7:30pm

Washington Debut: Michael Yeung, percussion
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater | Washington D.C.
Link: yca.org/event/yeung-dc/

Wednesday, December 4, 2024 at 7:30pm

NY Debut: The Michaels Award Concert: Bennett Tsai, cello
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/event/tsai-ny/

Thursday, February 6, 2025 at 7:30pm

NY Debut: The Barbara Forester Austin Art Song Recital: Chelsea Guo, soprano & piano
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | New York, NY
Link:http://: yca.org/event/guo-ny/] yca.org/event/guo-ny/

Wednesday, February 19, 2025 at 7:30pm

Washington Debut: Chelsea Guo, soprano & piano
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater | Washington D.C.
Link: yca.org/event/guo-dc/

Wednesday, February 26, 2025 at 12:00pm

Morgan Library Series: Chaeyoung Park, piano
Gilder Lehrman Hall, The Morgan Library & Museum | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/event/encore-park/

Thursday, March 6, 2025 at 7:30pm

NY Debut: The Summis Auspiciis Concert: Ziggy & Miles, guitar duo
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/event/zandm-ny/

Wednesday, March 19, 2025 at 7:30pm

DC Debut: Ziggy & Miles, guitar duo & Anthony Trionfo, flute
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater | Washington D.C.
Link: yca.org/event/zandm-dc/

Wednesday, March 25, 2025 at 7:30pm

NY Debut: The Peter Jay Sharp Concert: Joseph Parrish, bass-baritone
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/event/parrish-ny/

Wednesday, March 26, 2025 at 12:00pm

Morgan Library Series: YCA on Tour: Risa Hokamura, violin; Chaeyoung Park, piano; Alexander Cox, cello; Anthony Trionfo, flute; Hsin-Yun Huang, viola
Gilder Lehrman Hall, The Morgan Library & Museum | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/event/encore-ycaot/

Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at 7:30pm

DC Debut: The Alexander Kasza-Kasser Concert: Oliver Neubauer, violin
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater | Washington D.C.
Link: yca.org/event/neubauer-dc/

Thursday, April 24, 2025 at 12:00pm

Morgan Library Series: Erin Wagner, mezzo-soprano
Gilder Lehrman Hall, The Morgan Library & Museum | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/event/encore-wagner/

Tuesday, April 29, 2025 at 7:30pm

NY Debut: The Rhoda Walker Teagle Concert: Oliver Neubauer, violin
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/event/neubauer-ny/

Monday, May 12, 2025 at 7:30pm

YCA Season Finale
Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/event/2025-season-finale/

Photo Credit: Bianca Jenkins