Hannah Ishizaki Selected As Young Concert Artists 2025 Composer-in-Residence

Young Concert Artists (YCA) has selected Hannah Ishizaki, a composer and sound artist based in Princeton, New Jersey, to become its 2025-2027 Composer-in-Residence. Her music seeks to foster connections between musicians and the audience by exploring the physicality of music performance. Ishizaki finds inspiration in the process of composition, leading her to experiment with a wide range of instruments and sound-generating methods-from acoustic instruments in an orchestra to digital sensors to rocks and zippers. Immersed in the world of collaboration, Ishizaki has worked with dancers, actors, filmmakers, and visual artists to connect the seemingly unconnected and create innovative multidisciplinary projects.

"I am excited to work alongside accomplished managers who will guide me in developing my artistic vision into a sustainable career while building meaningful relationships with orchestras, musicians, and presenters," Ishizaki shared.

More than 100 young composers applied to this year's YCA Composer-in-Residence search. Their applications, including three original scores, were reviewed by a distinguished jury comprising Daniel Kellogg, YCA President and jury chair; Katherine Balch, composer; Steven Banks, saxophone and composer; Nick DiBerardino, composer; Jennifer Koh, violin; Andrew Norman, composer; Chris Rogerson, composer; Mimi Stillman, flute; Jeffrey Swann, piano; and Augusta Reade Thomas, composer. Ishizaki was one of four exceptional finalists, alongside composers Paul Novak, Sofia Ouyang, and Max Vinetz. In cases where jury members had previous student-teacher relationships with applicants, these relationships were fully disclosed, and teachers abstained from discussing or scoring their former students.

"From more than 100 applicants and four exceptional finalists, Hannah distinguished herself with her creative spark, breadth of expression, imagination, and robust artistic voice," said YCA President Daniel Kellogg. "She is also a keen and fantastic collaborator, passionate about connecting with and working alongside the brilliant performers on our roster and the entire YCA family. We are thrilled to embark on this journey with Hannah."

"Each time we select a new Composer-in-Residence it feels like a full-circle moment for me," he added, referencing his own time as a YCA Composer beginning in 2002.

During her tenure as Composer-in-Residence, Ishizaki will receive three commissions totaling $18,000 and will serve as a key artistic collaborator to the newest artists to receive the YCA Jacobs Fellowship, a holistic three-year program offering career support, industry connections, and performance opportunities to exceptional early-career musicians. Her first two commissions will each be written for a current YCA artist, who will work closely with Ishizaki through the composition process and warm-up concerts before premiering the new work as part of a debut recital in New York or Washington D.C. The third commission will be written in collaboration with a YCA alumnus, who will perform the world premiere. YCA will later secure 1-3 other artists of the same instrumentation from within the YCA family to perform the work in concert, ensuring multiple performances.

Ishizaki has also been signed to a minimum three-year management contract through YCA. Backed by the program's longstanding reputation for discovering and launching the careers of extraordinary young artists, YCA's management team promotes its artists through connections with the industry's managers, concert presenters, conductors of major orchestras, and financial supporters. Through this alliance, YCA Composers-in-Residence develop opportunities for performances of existing works and new commissions, while opening doors to residency programs with orchestras and new music institutions nationwide. Management services include a full package of publicity materials and services, travel arrangements, extensive professional development, and educational residency experience, as well as overall career guidance and mentorship.

Renowned for identifying and investing in musicians of "exceptional caliber" (The New York Times), Young Concert Artists established its Composer-in-Residence Program in 1994 with support from the YCA Alumni Association. Created to discover and support exciting young composers while forging collaborative opportunities with outstanding performers, the program has now brought 14 exceptional composers to public attention: Dan Coleman, Kevin Puts, Kenji Bunch, Mason Bates, Daniel Kellogg, Benjamin C.S. Boyle, Andrew Norman, Chris Rogerson, David Hertzberg, Tonia Ko, Katherine Balch, Saad Haddad, Nina Shekhar, and most recently YCA's current Composer-in-Residence, Alistair Coleman.

YCA Composers have been recognized with numerous prizes and distinctions including the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's 2020 Career Advancement Award, a GRAMMY Award, The Grawemeyer Award for Music, a Pulitzer Prize, a Heinz Medal in the Humanities, four Rome Prizes, two Berlin Prizes, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the first Benjamin H. Danks Commission from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, five Charles Ives Fellowships, more than 20 ASCAP awards, numerous BMI prizes and a Koussevitsky Prize. Among them, these composers have earned prestigious commissions from such performers as Evelyn Glennie, Yo-Yo Ma, Anne Akiko Meyers and Jeremy Denk, and from orchestras and presenters including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera.

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