Meet the Jury of Young Concert Artists' Susan Wadsworth International Auditions

Tune in to The Violin Channel on November 11 at 10 AM (ET) to witness the finals of this year's YCA auditions

Established in 1961, the Young Concert Artists (YCA) Susan Wadsworth International Auditions has since provided emerging artists opportunities to connect with top industry professionals to further their music careers.

From the Auditions, the YCA adds a new group of winning artists to its roster each year. Winners receive a minimum three-year management contract, high-profile debuts, plus national and international recital and orchestra performance opportunities. Watch this year's Final Auditions on Saturday, November 11, at 10 AM (ET).

YCA has brought together a jury of distinguished musicians and industry professionals to serve on the semi-finals and finals panel. They are:

Daniel Kellogg, chair*
Susan Wadsworth, YCA founder
David Starobin, producer/guitar
Anne-Marie McDermott, piano*
Michael Parloff, flute
Soovin Kim, violin
Dmitry Sitkovetsky, conductor/violin
Tai Murray, violin
Clive Greensmith, cello
Lise de la Salle, piano*
Hanako Yamaguchi
Deborah Borda (finals only)

The Violin Channel had the chance to ask members of the jury a few questions ahead of the exciting finals this weekend!

What does it mean to you to be on the jury to select the next YCA artists? Young Concert Artists invests in the next generation of exceptional young musicians; how does your role as a professional musician play into that?

"It is a great honor and of course, a huge responsibility to be a jury member of the 2024 YCA Competition," said Clive Greensmith. "What a great pleasure it will be to hear so many talented young musicians sharing their artistry. I’m greatly looking forward to getting to know each performer, and to listen intently to what each player has to say.

"We live in an age of exceptional instrumental virtuosity, so much so, that one can take a technically perfect performance for granted. I am interested in the deeper musical currents that lie beneath the surface. I am intrigued by an artist who makes me listen to the voice of the composer, who draws me in and convinces me in the moment that nothing else matters. As a performer, I live for that state of deep communion, discovery and enlightenment."

Pianist Lise de la Salle added, "I have been extremely lucky to win YCA when I was super young and it really has been an amazing adventure and a great luck for my career to start in America. I loved working with the team as everybody was and is so kind and great professionals. So to know that I have in my hands the power to give that to the next generation is a very exciting but also very intense feeling.

"Classical music, we all know that, suffers from older audiences," she continued. "And I think that, as a performing artist, it's my duty and my role to guide and help the younger generation. I believe the younger generation has and will have the power to keep doing what we started, meaning reaching out to younger audiences and connect with them. So being a part of that is a very exhilarating."

Flautist Michael Parloff wrote that "For over sixty years, Young Concert Artists has had perfect pitch when it comes to identifying the next generation of musical stars. As a concert presenter, it is comforting to know that any young musician we feature from YCA’s roster will embody the highest levels of artistic integrity, technical brilliance, and personal charisma."

The YCA Auditions are open to instrumentalists aged 16 to 28, singers aged 20 to 30 years old, and North America-based ensembles with an average age of 28 or less. The 38 musicians participating in the semi-finals can be found here.

The semi-finals are taking place from November 7-9 at Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center, in NYC. Also at Merkin Hall, the Finals will be held on November 11 at 10:00 AM. The Winners Concert will be hosted at The Morgan Library & Museum's Gilder Lehrman Hall on November 12 at 4:30 PM. The latter events will be streamed LIVE on The Violin Channel.