Young Concert Artists Announces 2026-2027 Season, Featuring Carnegie Hall Debuts

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Trio Azura, violinist Claire Wells, and saxophonist Estel Vivó Casanovas will debut at Weill Recital Hall.

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Young Concert Artists has revealed 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.

Washington D.C. Debut - Trio Azura The Phillips Collection | Washington D.C.

Opening Night: NY Debut - Trio Azura Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall | New York, NY

2026 YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions - Final Round Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | New York, NY

2026 YCA Winners Concert Streamed live on The Violin Channel

Washington D.C. Debut - Claire Wells , violin The Phillips Collection | Washington D.C.

YCA on Tour - Radu Ratoi, accordion; Risa Hokamura, violin; Lun Li, violin; Benett Tsai, cello Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall | New York, NY

Encore Series: Albert Cano Smit, piano Gilder Lehrman Hall, The Morgan Library & Museum | New York, NY

YCA on Tour - Radu Ratoi, accordion; Risa Hokamura, violin; Lun Li, violin; Benett Tsai, cello The Phillips Collection | Washington D.C.

Encore Series: Benett Tsai, cello Gilder Lehrman Hall, The Morgan Library & Museum | New York, NY

New York Debut - Estel Vivó Casanovas, saxophone Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall | New York, NY

Washington D.C. Debut - Estel Vivó Casanovas, saxophone Church of the Epiphany | Washington D.C.

New York Debut - Claire Wells , violin Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall | New York, NY

Time's Echo - Paul Huang, violin; Anne-Marie McDermott, piano; Jose Franche-Ballester, clarinet; Clive Greensmith, cello

Synagogue at Sixth & I | Washington D.C.

Season Finale Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall | New York, NY

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Young-Concert-Artists-Unveils-2026-2027-Season-With-Carnegie-Hall-Debuts-20260514)._