Artist Managers: ‘YCA gave me the only thing I ever wanted: a chance'

Next year, the London-based Young Classical Artists Trust reaches its 40^th anniversary. Expect that to be celebrated here in CM, but what of the USA organisation which was so obviously part of YCAT’s inspiration — Young Concert Artists in New York, founded as a nonprofit organisation in 1961 by the legendary Susan Wadsworth? The list of alumni includes the likes of Emanuel Ax, Dawn Upshaw and Pinchas Zukerman… among a host of other familiar and less familiar names.

A string of young British musicians have been attracted to audition for a place on the YCA roster since its founding. If successful, they received representation, mainly for the USA, over a limited number of years, after which commercial artist managements took them on. Looking just at YCA’s first quarter-century, British musicians who benefited from YCA management included cellists Colin Carr and Robert Cohen, the Chilingirian and Endellion string quartets, and oboist (now conductor) Douglas Boyd.

The next few days see the semi-final and final YCA auditions in New York, followed by the winners’ concert on 12 November at NY’s Morgan Library & Museum. As you would expect, American musicians mainly figure, but candidates from Europe and the Far East are also involved (although no Brits, sadly). ‘This year we had approximately 160 soloist or ensemble applications,’ reports Erol Gurol, YCA’s director of auditions and programs. ‘Half of these auditioned live, the rest making online submissions. We spent many hours bringing that number down to 38 for the semi-finals. These candidates are auditioning in front of a distinguished jury here in New York. As well as admission being free to members of the public, the performances will be live-streamed.’

Douglas Boyd is an example of a British musician who has benefited from YCA management © Jean-Baptiste Millot

The handful of musicians invited onto the YCA roster can look forward not just to a significant number of (mainly US) engagements but also to plenty of advice on handling the essential building-blocks of a career, not least in terms of media awareness and community engagement. In these tough times for classical music (exacerbated by Covid) I’m half-expecting YCA president Daniel Kellogg to tell of his staff’s struggle to keep up the supply of engagements but that’s not the case at all. ‘This season there are twice the number of bookings for artists on YCA’s books than there were before the pandemic,’ he says, ‘partly down to more creative ways of marketing.’

Those engagements (many of them offered by promoters who have supported YCA over many years) cover a range of levels of exposure, not excluding major US orchestras. Alongside concerts there’s an increasing emphasis on community and education work — this season, around a third of the total of around 730 engagements. ‘Many of our donors care deeply about this area of work,’ Kellogg observes. ‘One of our prime aims is to commit to schools which have no arts funding. The need to build audiences has to be on the minds of young musicians… connecting with people from diverse backgrounds is such an important part of making music.’

YCA’s senior director of artist management, Christina Baker, arrived in her job after many years in commercial artist management. Why the shift? ‘Working in a commercial environment, representing well-known, in-demand names, I felt my future was going to be just more of the same. Now, every day at YCA I’m dealing with such talented, bright individuals who represent what’s to come in our world. Previously I was used to a sense of depression around the future of classical music; now, it’s hard to be depressed when you’re surrounded by these wonderful, intelligent, optimistic young musicians.’

Emanuel Ax, YCA alumnus © Lisa Marie Mazzucco

Informal interviews with audition finalists enable senior YCA staff ‘to establish the collaborative relationship we expect if they were to join the roster,’ Daniel Kellogg relates. ‘We like them to share something of themselves. Why do they want to perform? What are the dreams for their careers? What do they feel are the roles of musicians and music in society?

‘You get to work with all types of individual,’ adds Baker. ‘Some make it clear they want to be real stars. But in many cases, you gently talk about how stardom may not be the appropriate end-goal. There can be other definitions of success. Maybe it’s becoming the head of a conservatoire while still playing concerts and making recordings.’

Going on tour is a key component in YCA musicians learning to better understanding themselves, says Baker. ‘For example, maybe they learn their particular physical limits, that they can only play a certain number of engagements a week. Trying out repertoire is vital — deciding what is and is not for you.’

One recent YCA alumnus clearly set for stardom is saxophonist Steven Banks. Thanks to YCA he progressed from being barely known to accepting dates with a string of top US symphony orchestras, including Boston, the National Symphony and Cleveland. ‘Steven’s going to be doing so many amazing things,’ Kellogg observes. ‘But he needed a community of support from YCA to bridge the gap into the profession.’

‘YCA has completely changed my life,’ says Banks himself. ‘They’ve given me the only thing I ever wanted: a chance. I’ve received an incredible amount of support, career guidance and performance opportunities.’

From the other end of a successful career, David Waterman — cellist of the now retired Endellion String Quartet (pictured below) — recalls that ‘musicians based in Europe might have wanted to make a début in the United States, but it would be at your own expense, with no idea if an audience would come and hence what use the concert would be. Going with YCA changed all that. At that early stage in our career a single concert in Carnegie Hall or somewhere wasn’t actually appropriate… we needed a series of tours with five concerts a week across two or three weeks. That’s what the really valuable experience was. And in due course YCA helped us find a commercial artist management.’

In 2023, there’s increasing emphasis at YCA on strong branding for artists, plus (of course) an ever-developing online presence — especially useful to aid the finding of international engagements, says Christina Baker. ’It's very much a global business and we aim to maximise opportunities for our artists, fostering valuable introductions for soloists to orchestras and conductors on an international scale. Seeking local management in all regions is a priority for us.’

As ever, Baker will be intrigued to see which new artists come her way as a result of the upcoming auditions. As for Erol Guroll, a pianist by training, the only frustration is that during the auditions he will be based in the venue’s foyer, managing logistics. ‘But you can be sure I’ll have my ear to the auditorium door! I get a kick out of this every year.’

As for YCAT in the UK, I hear that among the plans for celebrating its fortieth anniversary next year is a European tour of some of the finest concert halls, featuring a starry line-up of past and present YCAT roster artists. Expect plenty of reference back in the media to past YCAT success stories, combined with news of initiatives to support the championing of gifted young artists well into the future.