Young Concert Artists renames fellowship in sponsors’ honour

Young Concert Artists (YCA) has announced that, following a $1.5m gift from philanthropists Joan and Irwin Jacobs, the YCA Artist Fellowship has been renamed the YCA Jacobs Fellowship. The New York-based talent development organisation is set to reveal the winners of its 2023 Fellowships on Saturday (11 November)

Billionaires Joan and Irwin Jacobs have pledged to give $1,500,000 over the next three years in support of the newly-named YCA Jacobs Fellowship programme. The three-year program is designed to support young musicians in establishing a sustainable music career.

Irwin Jacobs said: ‘The arts have been a great source of pleasure and friendships during our many years of life together. We were therefore excited to learn through a friend of YCA's role in nurturing young talent and fostering the next generation of amazing musicians. Joan and I are thrilled to help expand their mission through a program that focuses on further supporting the growth of extraordinary young artists.’

The inaugural YCA Jacobs Fellows will be named on Saturday following the YCA’s Susan Wadsworth International Auditions. A total of 38 semi-finalists will perform for a panel including YCA founder Susan Wadsworth, producer and guitarist David Starobin, flautist Michael Parloff, cellist Clive Greensmith, pianists Anne-Marie McDermott and Lise de la Salle, violinists Soovin Kim, Dmitry Sitkovetsky and Tai Murray, arts consultant Hanako Yamaguchi and New York Philharmonic CEO Deborah Borda. The panel will be chaired by YCA president Daniel Kellogg.

Kellogg said: ‘We are profoundly grateful to Joan and Irwin Jacobs for their unwavering commitment to the arts and their extraordinary generosity in supporting the Jacobs Artist Fellowship. This monumental gift will have a profound and lasting impact on the lives of the 2023 Winners. It represents not just an investment in their artistic careers, but a testament to the power of music and the arts to enrich our society.’

Fellowship winners will feature in a livestreamed winners concert on 12 November at the Morgan Library and Museum. They will join the YCA roster, receiving at least three years of career management including digital tools, mentorship, community engagement, project development, image support and performance opportunities as well as attending the YCA’s ‘21st Century Artist Incubator’ 14-month intensive artist training program.