Applications Now Open for Young Concert Artists' Composer-in-Residence Program

Young Concert Artists (YCA) is now accepting applications for its 2025-2027 Composer-in-Residence Program. The winning composer will receive three commissions totaling $18,000 as well as a minimum three-year management contract with YCA. The Composer-in-Residence will be 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. Past Composers-in-Residence include Kevin Puts, Mason Bates, YCA President Daniel Kellogg, and most recently Nina Shekhar and Alistair Coleman. The selection process is open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents aged between 20 and 28 years of age as of March 31, 2025. The deadline for applications is January 20, 2025. Complete information and application link are available on the YCA website.​

YCA President Daniel Kellogg commented: "I experienced the unparalleled opportunities this excellent program provides first hand when I was the YCA Composer-in-Residence in 2002. I am proud that YCA continues launching the careers of bright young composers who will go on to have a lasting impact on the Classical Music world."

To be considered, composers must submit an application form, a résumé or bio and two letters of recommendation, along with three original scores: a work for solo piano, or for solo instrument/voice + piano; a work for chamber ensemble; and one additional work of the composer's choice. (Additional materials and an interview may be requested as the selection process proceeds.) Applications will be reviewed by a panel of distinguished proponents of contemporary music, including YCA alumni, performers and composers.

In the course of their time on the YCA roster, the next Composer-in-Residence will receive three commissions totaling $18,000 ($6,000 each). Each of the first two commissions will be written for a current YCA artist, who will work closely with the Composer-in-Residence 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.

In one of the program's unique features, the Composer-in-Residence is also provided with 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 each composer's career 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.

YCA Composer-In-Residence Application Information
Eligibility: U.S. citizens and permanent residents ages 20-28 as of March 31, 2025
Deadline: January 20, 2025
Link: yca.org/composer-program/