Young Concert Artists Announces 2026-2027 Season

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

 Sonia Kanigel | Primo Artists | Public Relations Manager
sonia@primoartists.com | 646.470.3812

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Young Concert Artists Announces 2026-2027 Season

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

Continuing Partnerships with Carnegie Hall, Presenting YCA Opening Night and Season Finale Concerts; and with Washington Performing Arts

Debut Recitals Move to Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in NYC and The Phillips Collection in Washington D.C., Featuring Ensemble-In-Residence Trio Azura, Violinist Claire Wells, and Saxophonist Estel Vivó Casanovas

Performances to be Captured in Debut Albums and Videos

YCA Continues Partnership with The Morgan Library & Museum, Presenting Encore Series Recitals by Albert Cano Smit, Piano; and Benett Tsai, Cello

Distinguished YCA Alumni Return for Alumni Concert, 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 14, 2026) – 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 2026-2027 season. This season’s schedule brings New York and Washington, D.C. debuts by Claire Wells, violin; Estel Vivó Casanovas, saxophone; and Trio Azura, YCA’s first Ensemble-In-Residence; plus Encore Series performances at New York’s Morgan Library & Museum by Albert Cano Smit, piano; and Benett Tsai, cello. Multiple YCA artists, as well as YCA alumni, will perform in YCA on Tour programs in both New York and Washington D.C. In a new addition to its Washington D.C. schedule, YCA partners with Washington Performing Arts to present a concert programmed by YCA alumnus violinist Paul Huang titled “Time’s Echo” at Synagogue at Sixth & I. YCA will also select a new cohort of exceptional 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 2026.

For the 2026-2027 season, YCA will continue its partnership with Carnegie Hall, introduced in 2025-2026, to co-present its Opening Night concert and Season Finale concert in Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall. YCA has secured new venues for its debut recitals in both New York City and Washington D.C., with New York debuts to be presented by YCA in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. YCA will present its Washington D.C. debuts at The Phillips Collection. Continuing a longstanding collaborative partnership this coming season, both the Washington D.C. debut of Estel Vivó Casanovas and the Time’s End concert will be co-presented with Washington Performing Arts. 

In another new offering for 2026-2027, YCA is also partnering with Skillman Music and its newly founded label division, Skillman Records, to produce a debut album and performance videos for each incoming artist. Selections from each artist’s debut program will be recorded and produced through Skillman’s full production environment and global distribution framework for commercial release across major digital music platforms.“We are thrilled to partner with Wei Wang, founder of Skillman Music and lead producer of Skillman Records and the team at Skillman Music on this initiative,” YCA President Daniel Kellogg says. “Having a commercially-produced album with professional-grade video content is invaluable for young artists at this stage of their careers, and we are excited to enhance the portfolio of resources we provide to accelerate their path forward.”

The season’s New York debuts begin with YCA’s Opening Night concert featuring Trio Azura, presented by Carnegie Hall in Zankel Hall on Wednesday, October 14, 2026 at 7:30pm. The program features a selection of piano trios curated to showcase the blends and textures that have helped define Trio Azura’s sound as an ensemble, beginning with Ravel’s Piano Trio, M. 67 and continuing with Jennifer Higdon’s Piano Trio and Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 66. On Thursday, February 25, 2027 at 7:00pm, Estel Vivó Casanovas will make her New York debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. In a program of storytelling and movement, she brings together classical and folk selections with new repertoire for the saxophone, including selections from David Salleras, Fritz Kreisler, Viet Cuong, J.S. Bach, Manuel de Falla, YCA Composer-in-Residence Hannah Ishizaki, Rachmaninoff, and Takashi Yoshimatsu. In the season’s final New York debut, violinist Claire Wells will perform on Thursday, April 22, 2027 at 7:00pm at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Her program traces a journey of departure and homecoming, weaving together this cycle through the familiar and the distant via works by Debussy, Brahms, Messiaen, Bartók, and Jörg Widmann. 

All three artists will reprise their programs in their Washington, D.C. debuts this season. Trio Azura will make their D.C. debut on Tuesday, September 29, 2026 at 7:00pm at The Phillips Collection, followed by violinist Claire Wells on Tuesday, November 17, 2026 at 7:00pm, also at The Phillips Collection. Saxophonist Estel Vivó Casanovas will perform her D.C. debut on Saturday, April 10, 2027 at 2:00pm, in a program co-presented by Washington Performing Arts at Church of the Epiphany.

On Sunday, November 8, 2026, beginning at 10:00am and continuing throughout the day, YCA will select its next cohort 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 2026 Winners will be announced the following day, Monday, November 9, 2026, and will perform in a Winners Concert at 7:00pm that evening, streamed live at theviolinchannel.com. This year’s auditions will also carry on two initiatives successfully introduced in 2025-2026: A new Ensemble-In-Residence will be selected, joining current Ensemble-In-Residence Trio Azura on the roster for the coming season. YCA will also award its second year of Laureate Prizes, also to be announced Monday, November 9, 2026. While not selected to take part in the Jacobs Fellowship, YCA Laureates will receive $5,000 in career grants and an invitation to compete in the semi-final round of future audition cycles. In addition, YCA will select its 2027-2029 Composer-in-Residence, who will join the roster as a YCA Jacobs Fellow in Spring 2027.

Selected through YCA’s famously rigorous audition process, 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 alumni in a pair of YCA on Tour performances on Thursday, December 10, 2026 at 7:00pm at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York, and on Tuesday, February 2, 2027 at 7:00pm at The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. Violinists Lun Li and Risa Hokamura, cellist Benett Tsai, and accordionist Radu Ratoi will perform in this wide-ranging program curated to highlight their unique strengths as artists, bringing together Schoenfield’s Cafe Music, Ravel’s La Valse, Stravinsky’s Suite Italienne, Piazzolla’s Four Seasons, and Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor. 

Two YCA artists featured in debut performances during recent seasons will return in 2026-2027 for noontime recitals presented in partnership with New York’s Morgan Library & Museum as part of YCA’s Encore Series. Pianist Albert Cano Smit will be featured on Wednesday, January 13, 2027 at 12:00pm in a program to include works by J.S. Bach and Gabriel Fauré. Cellist Benett Tsai will perform on Wednesday, February 10, 2027 at 12:00pm in a program of works by Manuel de Falla, Max Bruch, Felix Mendelssohn, and more.

The “Time’s Echo” Concert on Saturday, May 15, 2027 at 7:30pm, co-presented with Washington Performing Arts at Synagogue at Sixth & I, will feature three YCA alums violinist Paul Huang, pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, and clarinetist Jose Franche-Ballester, along with renowned cellist Clive Greensmith for a program featuring Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Kovács’ Sholem-Alekhem, rov Feidman!, and Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time.

The season closes with YCA’s Season Finale concert, presented by Carnegie Hall, on Tuesday, May 18, 2027 at 7:30pm in Zankel Hall. Featuring a program of chamber music including works by Schumann, Rachmaninoff, and J.S. Bach, the concert will showcase current YCA artists including Trio Azura, pianist Chaeyoung Park, and violinist Claire Wells, alongside YCA alumni violist Toby Appel, pianist George Li, and violinist Anne Akiko Meyers – with Wells and Meyers featured as soloists on Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor 

Young Concert Artists 2026-2027 Season Calendar

Tuesday, September 29, 2026 at 7:00pm
Washington D.C. Debut – Trio Azura
The Phillips Collection | Washington D.C.
Link: yca.org/tickets

Wednesday, October 14, 2026 at 7:30pm
Opening Night: NY Debut – Trio Azura
Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/tickets

Sunday, November 8, 2026 | All day starting at 10:00am
2026 YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions – Final Round
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/tickets

Monday, November 9, 2026 | 7:00pm
2026 YCA Winners Concert
Link: yca.org/tickets
Streamed live on The Violin Channel

Tuesday, November 17, 2026 at 7:00pm
Washington D.C. Debut – Claire Wells, violin
The Phillips Collection | Washington D.C.
Link: yca.org/tickets

Thursday, December 10, 2026 at 7:00pm
YCA on Tour – Radu Ratoi, accordion; Risa Hokamura, violin; Lun Li, violin; Benett Tsai, cello
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/tickets

Wednesday, January 13, 2027 at 12:00pm
Encore Series: Albert Cano Smit, piano
Gilder Lehrman Hall, The Morgan Library & Museum | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/tickets 

Tuesday, February 2, 2027 at 7:00pm
YCA on Tour – Radu Ratoi, accordion; Risa Hokamura, violin; Lun Li, violin; Benett Tsai, cello
The Phillips Collection | Washington D.C.
Link: yca.org/tickets 

Wednesday, February 10, 2027 at 12:00pm
Encore Series: Benett Tsai, cello
Gilder Lehrman Hall, The Morgan Library & Museum | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/tickets 

Thursday, February 25, 2027 at 7:00pm
New York Debut – Estel Vivó Casanovas, saxophone
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/tickets

Saturday, April 10, 2027 at 2:00pm
Washington D.C. Debut – Estel Vivó Casanovas, saxophone
Church of the Epiphany | Washington D.C.
Link: yca.org/tickets

Thursday, April 22, 2027 at 7:00pm
New York Debut – Claire Wells, violin
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/tickets 

Saturday, May 15, 2027 at 7:30pm
Time’s Echo – Paul Huang, violin; Anne-Marie McDermott, piano; Jose Franche-Ballester, clarinet; Clive Greensmith, cello
Synagogue at Sixth & I | Washington D.C.
Link: yca.org/tickets

Tuesday, May 18, 2027 at 7:30pm
Season Finale
Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall | New York, NY
Link: yca.org/tickets

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, 2025 Van Cliburn Gold Medalist Aristo Sham, and many more. Learn more at yca.org

*Photo Credit: Bianca Jenkins

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