YCAT is delighted to announce that Arthur Keegan has been appointed as the 2026 - 27 YCAT Composer Fellow.

Now entering its third year, the YCAT Composer Fellowship was launched in 2024 in partnership with the Royal Philharmonic Society and with the support of the Cosman Keller Art and Music Trust. The initiative forms part of YCAT’s ongoing commitment to championing exceptional early-career musicians, extending that support to composers at a pivotal stage in their professional development.

The Fellowship honours the legacy of Hans Keller, who was involved in YCAT’s early history and served on the jury that selected its first artists in 1984. In the decades before that, Keller had become one of Britain’s most distinctive musical thinkers through his work as a writer, teacher and broadcaster at the BBC.

As part of the Fellowship, the composer is commissioned to write two short chamber works created in collaboration with selected YCAT artists. Working closely with the performers throughout the year, the Composer Fellow develops new repertoire tailored to the musicians’ individual artistry. These works will be presented in performances around the UK during the season, culminating in a YCAT Wigmore Hall lunchtime recital, where the pieces will also be professionally recorded.

For the 2026–27 season, YCAT is pleased to welcome British composer Arthur Keegan as the newest Fellow. Arthur’s music is inspired by literature, visual imagery and traces of other music, and is developed through close collaboration with performers to explore new textures, forms and musical perspectives.

Arthur will work closely with YCAT artists Samrat Majumder (guitar) and Matteo Cimatti (violin) to create new music that reflects both his distinctive compositional voice and the remarkable talent of these performers.

Arthur comments:

I’m so looking forward to working with YCAT artists this year. This fellowship puts collaboration between performer and composer at its heart and I’ve already had some inspiring and exciting chats with Matteo and Samrat. I can’t wait to get stuck into writing for them!  These kinds of opportunities are invaluable for composers – working directly with fantastic performers is the main way we can develop our voice and learn more about our craft.

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Arthur joins a growing group of YCAT Composer Fellows, following Electra Perivolaris, James B. Wilson, and Fergus Hall. 

We look forward to supporting Arthur throughout the Fellowship and to sharing his new works with audiences across the UK during the 2026 - 27 season.

Learn more about Arthur

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Banner photograph © Alejandros Garrido

Top photograph © David Fay

Second photograph © Georgie Fay