YCA announces 2023 fellows

Young Concert Artists (YCA) has revealed the six musicians who have been selected as winners of the talent development organisation’s 2023 auditions. The winners, four soloists and a duo, will become YCA Jacobs Fellows, following the renaming of the fellowship last week.

The new additions to YCA’s roster of musicians are: guitar duo Ziggy & Miles; cellists James Baik and Benett Tsai; percussionist Michael Yeung and violinist Oliver Neubauer. The artists made their debuts as YCA Jacobs Fellows over the weekend, performing in a winners’ concert on 12 November at The Morgan Library and Museum’s Gilder Lehrman Hall in New York City.

YCA president Daniel Kellogg said: ‘We had a remarkably strong group of finalists this year and heard some exceptional performances. We are thrilled to welcome these magnificent artists to our roster as the inaugural YCA Jacobs Fellows, and we look forward to introducing them to the YCA community tomorrow at the Winners Concert.’

Kellogg chaired the judging panel for this year’s audition process. The jury also included YCA founder Susan Wadsworth, producer and guitarist David Starobin, flautist Michael Parloff, cellist Clive Greensmith, pianists Anne-Marie McDermott and Lise de la Salle, violinists Soovin Kim, Dmitry Sitkovetsky and Tai Murray, arts consultant Hanako Yamaguchi and New York Philharmonic CEO Deborah Borda. Selected from more than 150 applicants, the six successful finalists were assessed in terms of their artistic excellence, technical mastery, stage presence, and performance potential.

The new fellows will now embark on a three-year program giving participants access to the digital tools, training, mentorship, community engagement, project development, and performance opportunities they will need to build a sustainable career. The artists will give debuts in both New York City and Washington DC and will benefit from YCA’s connections across the industry.