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., for 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.
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.
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Young Concert Artists 2025-2026 Season Calendar
Tuesday, September 30, 2025 at 7:00 pm
Washington DC Debut – James Baik, cello
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater | Washington, D.C.
Tuesday, October 21, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Opening Night: NY Debut – Kiron Atom Tellian, piano
Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall | New York, NY
Sunday, November 9, 2025 | All day starting at 10:00 am
2025 YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions – Final Round
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | New York, NY
Monday, November 10, 2025 | 7:00 pm
2025 YCA Winners concert
Tuesday, November 18, 2025 at 7:00 pm
Washington DC Debut – Radu Ratoi, accordion; Special Guest: Benett Tsai, cello
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater | Washington, D.C.
Thursday, December 11, 2025 at 7:00 pm
New York Debut – Radu Ratoi, accordion; Special Guest: Lun Li, violin
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | New York, NY
Thursday, February 5, 2026 at 7:00 pm
YCA on Tour
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | New York, NY
Risa Hokamura, violin
Oliver Neubauer, violin
James Baik, cello
Benett Tsai, cello
Toby Appel, viola
Wednesday, March 25, 2026 at 12:00 pm
Encore Series: Michael Yeung, percussion; Oliver Neubauer, violin
Gilder Lehrman Hall, The Morgan Library & Museum | New York, NY
Tuesday, March 31, 2026 at 7:00 pm
Washington DC Debut – Kiron Atom Tellian, piano
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater | Washington, D.C.
Wednesday, April 15, 2026 at 12:00 pm
Encore Series: Ziggy & Miles, guitar duo
Gilder Lehrman Hall, The Morgan Library & Museum | New York, NY
Thursday, April 23, 2026 at 7:00 pm
New York Debut – James Baik, cello
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | New York, NY
Sunday, April 26, 2026 at 2:00 pm
YCA on Tour
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater | Washington, D.C.
Risa Hokamura, violin
Oliver Neubauer, violin
James Baik, cello
Benett Tsai, cello
Toby Appel, viola
Wednesday, May 13, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Season Finale Concert
Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall | New York, NY
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
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