Young Concert Artists Announces Composer in Residence

Nina Shekhar has been selected to be the Young Concert Artists' Composer-in-Residence for 2021

The YCA residency contains a 3-year management contract and includes a financial package of $18,000 for three YCA commissions to be written within the residency timelines and premiered thereafter.

Born in 1995, Shekhar is a multifaceted composer and musician. Her works intersect identity, vulnerability, love, and laughter. They are all personal, and described as "vivid," per the Washington Post, with "surprises and delights aplenty," per the LA Times.

Currently, Shekhar is earning her Ph.D. in Composition from Princeton University. She also is a Composer Teaching Artist Fellow for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and is on faculty at Brightwork new music's Project Beacon initiative.

Also a flutist, pianist, and saxophonist, she has performed in the Detroit International Jazz Festival, USC Thornton Symphony, and the Lublin Philharmonic in the Poland International Piano Festival.

"I’m very excited to be YCA’s next composer-in-residence during a time when the arts world is redefining what music-making means through and post-pandemic," said Shekhar. "I’m grateful to have YCA’s support as I navigate my own creative pathways and forge my values as an artist."