Young Concert Artists Announces 65th Anniversary Season in 2025-2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Katy Salomon | Primo Artists | VP, Public Relations 
katy@primoartists.com | 646.801.9406 

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 Young Concert Artists Announces
65th Anniversary Season in 2025-2026

As Part of Holistic YCA Fellowship, Early-Career Artists are 
Featured in New York and Washington, D.C. Debuts 

Carnegie Hall Presents YCA Opening Night
and Season Finale Concerts As Part of a New Series

YCA Roster Artists to Make Debuts Include Kiron Atom Tellian, piano;
Radu Ratoi, accordion; and James Baik, cello

YCA Continues Partnership with The Morgan Library & Museum, Presenting
Encore Series Recitals by Michael Yeung, percussion;
Oliver Neubauer, violin; and Ziggy & Miles, guitar duo

Distinguished YCA Alumni Join Current Artists for YCA on Tour
and Season Finale Performances

“Young Concert Artists has acquired a special status in the musical world, and deservedly
so… It is extremely doubtful that any organization anywhere could have matched the YCA
record for spotting great talent and helping it along.”– The New York Times

www.yca.org 
 

New York, NY (May 8, 2025) – Renowned for identifying and investing in musicians of “exceptional caliber” (The New York Times), Young Concert Artists announces a full slate of engagements for its roster of rising performers during its 2025-2026 season. Marking the 65th anniversary for YCA, this season’s schedule brings New York and Washington, D.C. debuts by James Baik, cello; Kiron Atom Tellian, piano; and Radu Ratoi, accordion; along with Encore Series performances at New York’s Morgan Library & Museum by Michael Yeung, percussion; Oliver Neubauer, violin; and Ziggy & Miles, guitar duo. Multiple YCA artists, as well as YCA alumni, will perform in a YCA on Tour program at New York’s Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center, and in YCA’s Season Finale concert at Carnegie Hall. In addition, YCA will select a new class of superior young artists to join its three-year YCA Jacobs Fellowship through the annual Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, culminating in a final round and Winners Concert in November 2025.

The season’s New York debuts begin with YCA’s Opening Night concert featuring Austrian pianist Kiron Atom Tellian, presented by Carnegie Hall in Zankel Hall on Tuesday, October 21, 2025 at 7:30pm. Tellian’s program brings together Etudes by Chopin, Scriabin, and Robert Schumann, along with Scriabin’s Piano Sonata No. 2 in G-sharp minor. Moldovan accordionist Radu Ratoi, only the second accordion artist ever to be featured on the YCA roster, follows with his New York debut at Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center on Tuesday, November 18, 2025 at 7:00pm. Joined by special guest and fellow YCA artist, violinist Lun Li, Ratoi showcases the accordion’s technical and expressive range through works from the Baroque through the contemporary, including selections from Rameau, J.S. Bach, Liszt, Schubert, Per Nørgård, Saint-Saëns, and Stravinsky, as well as a world premiere by YCA Composer-in-Residence Hannah Ishizaki. The season’s final New York debut at Merkin Hall features cellist James Baik in a program celebrating the art of the cello sonata through works by Boccherini, Debussy, Britten, and Mendelssohn, on Thursday, April 23, 2026 at 7:00pm.

All three artists will bring identical programs to Washington, D.C. debuts at The Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Cellist James Baik performs his D.C. debut on Tuesday, September 30, 2025 at 7:00pm while accordionist Radu Ratoi, joined by cellist Benett Tsai, performs on Tuesday, November 18, 2025 at 7:00pm. Pianist Kiron Atom Tellian debuts on Tuesday, March 31, 2026 at 7:00pm.

On Sunday, November 9, 2025, beginning at 10:00am and continuing throughout the day, YCA will select its next class of YCA Jacobs Fellowship artists in the final round of the Susan Wadsworth International Auditions at Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center in New York. The 2025 Winners, including the first YCA Ensemble-in-Residence, will be announced the following day, Monday November 10, 2025, and will perform in a Winners Concert at 7:00pm that evening. The Winners Concert will be streamed live at theviolinchannel.com. Through this year’s auditions, YCA will also award its first-ever Laureate Prizes, also to be announced Monday, November 10, 2025. While not selected to take part in the Jacobs Fellowship this year, YCA Laureates will receive $5,000 in career development grants and an invitation to compete in the semi-final round of future audition cycles.

Selected through YCA’s famously rigorous audition process, honed over 65 years, Jacobs Fellowship recipients benefit from a holistic system of support and opportunities, including comprehensive artist management, mentorship, training, 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. 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 YCA artist, resulting in busier concert calendars, higher-profile debuts, and greater industry attention.

Current YCA artists will be joined by YCA alumnus violist Toby Appel for a YCA on Tour performance on Thursday, February 5, 2026 at 7:00pm at Kaufman Music Center in New York. Violinists Risa Hokamura and Oliver Neubauer and cellists James Baik and Benett Tsai perform in this wide-ranging program curated to highlight their unique strengths as artists, bringing together José Elizondo’s Latin American Dances with Ernst von Dohnányi’s Serenade for String Trio in C Major and Schubert’s String Quintet in C Major. The ensemble takes the program to Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center Terrace Theater for a performance on Sunday, April 26, 2026 at 2:00pm.

Three YCA artists featured in debut performances during the 2024-2025 season will return in 2025-2026 for YCA Encore Series performances presented in partnership with New York’s Morgan Library & Museum. Percussionist Michael Yeung and violinist Oliver Neubauer will perform together at the Morgan in the Gilder Lehrman Hall on Wednesday, March 25, 2026 at 12:00pm. Showcasing their talents in an eclectic program of music for violin and marimba, the two will perform works by J.S. Bach, Arvo Pärt, Gabriela Ortiz, and more. Ziggy & Miles – brothers from Australia, and YCA’s first-ever guitar duo – will follow with an Encore Series program of their own on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 at 12:00pm, also at the Morgan in the Gilder Lehrman Hall. Their performance features works by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Elizabeth Younan, along with J.S. Bach’s Double Violin Concerto arranged for two guitars.

The season closes with YCA’s Season Finale concert, presented by Carnegie Hall, on Wednesday, May 13, 2026 at 7:30pm in Zankel Hall. With a program including works by Ravel, Gershwin, Tchaikovsky, and Sofia Gubaidulina, the concert will feature current YCA artists flutist Anthony Trionfo; violinist Risa Hokamura; cellist James Baik; and pianist Ying Li; alongside YCA alumni clarinetist Todd Palmer, harpist Gwyneth Wentink; violinists Benjamin Beilman, Ani Kavafian, Toby Appel, and Daniel Phillips; and violists Hsin-Yun Huang and Marcus Thompson.

Young Concert Artists 2025-2026 Season Calendar

Tuesday, September 30, 2025 at 7:00pm
Washington DC Debut – James Baik, cello
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater | Washington, D.C.
Link: yca.org/tickets

Tuesday, October 21, 2025 at 7:30pm
Opening Night: NY Debut – Kiron Atom Tellian, piano
Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/tickets

Sunday, November 9, 2025 | All day starting at 10:00am
2025 YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions – Final Round
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/tickets

Monday, November 10, 2025 | 7:00pm
2025 YCA Winners concert
Link: yca.org/tickets
Streamed live on The Violin Channel

Tuesday, November 18, 2025 at 7:00pm
Washington DC Debut – Radu Ratoi, accordion; Special Guest: Benett Tsai, cello
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater | Washington, D.C.
Link: yca.org/tickets

Thursday, December 11, 2025 at 7:00pm
New York Debut – Radu Ratoi, accordion; Special Guest: Lun Li, violin
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/tickets

Thursday, February 5, 2026 at 7:00pm
YCA on Tour
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/tickets

Risa Hokamura, violin
Oliver Neubauer, violin 
James Baik, cello
Benett Tsai, cello
Toby Appel, viola

Wednesday, March 25, 2026 at 12:00pm
Encore Series: Michael Yeung, percussion; Oliver Neubauer, violin
Gilder Lehrman Hall, The Morgan Library & Museum | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/tickets

Tuesday, March 31, 2026 at 7:00pm
Washington DC Debut – Kiron Atom Tellian, piano
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater | Washington, D.C.
Link: yca.org/tickets

Wednesday, April 15, 2026 at 12:00pm
Encore Series: Ziggy & Miles, guitar duo
Gilder Lehrman Hall, The Morgan Library & Museum | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/tickets

Thursday, April 23, 2026 at 7:00pm
New York Debut – James Baik, cello
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/tickets

Sunday, April 26, 2026 at 2:00pm
YCA on Tour
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater | Washington, D.C.
Link: yca.org/tickets

Risa Hokamura, violin
Oliver Neubauer, violin 
James Baik, cello
Benett Tsai, cello
Toby Appel, viola

Wednesday, May 13, 2026 at 7:30pm
Season Finale Concert
Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/tickets

Todd Palmer, clarinet
Anthony Trionfo, flute
Gwyneth Wentink, harp
Benjamin Beilman, violin
Risa Hokamura, violin
Hsin-Yun Huang, viola 
James Baik, cello
Anne-Marie McDermott, piano
Ying Li, piano
Ani Kavafian, violin
Marcus Thompson, viola 
Toby Appel, violin
Daniel Phillips, violin

About Young Concert Artists
For 65 years, Young Concert Artists has stood at the forefront of discovering and launching the careers of the future leaders of classical music. Founded by Susan Wadsworth in 1961, YCA has invested in its artists by providing them with the tools, opportunities, and infrastructure to take their careers to the highest level. YCA believes that successful modern musicians are more than gifted and highly-trained – they are cultural ambassadors who are well-equipped to bring new reach and relevance to the art form and inspire the widest possible audience.

The annual YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions draw the most exceptional young musicians from around the world for the chance to join the YCA roster and receive the YCA Jacobs Fellowship. This transformative three-year program propels musicians to new levels of artistic growth, offering a holistic combination of resources including comprehensive artist management, performance opportunities at top venues around the globe, and YCA-presented debut recitals in New York City and Washington, DC. YCA connects its artists to a far-reaching network, opening doors and fostering key relationships that fundamentally change the trajectory of their careers.

With a legacy of artistic excellence recognized around the world, YCA alumni include such luminaries as Emanuel Ax, Julia Bullock, Anne Akiko Meyers, Jeremy Denk, Ray Chen, Anne-Marie McDermott, Richard Goode, Zlatomir Fung, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Kevin Puts, Pinchas Zukerman, Randall Goosby, Sasha Cooke, and many more.

*Photo Credit: Chris Lee

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