Building on the success of its 40th Anniversary European Tour, the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) has developed a new initiative pairing intensive creative residencies with extended touring - and the first results took place at four concerts in Germany in June 2026.

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YCAT has long been recognised as one of the UK's leading launchpads for exceptional young musicians. As we enter our fifth decade, we are expanding our support for artists through a new residency model that gives them the time, space and resources to develop ambitious collaborative projects.

Through these residencies, current and former YCAT artists are brought together for several days of intensive rehearsal, artistic exchange and performance. Alongside preparing concert programmes, artists can also engage with local communities through education and outreach activity, creating opportunities for meaningful connection beyond the concert hall.

The initiative grew directly from the success of our 40th Anniversary European Tour in 2025, which demonstrated the power of bringing together musicians from different generations of the YCAT family. Building on that experience, we are creating a framework through which collaborative projects can be developed in depth, toured more widely, and continue to evolve beyond a single performance.

The First Residency

The inaugural cohort - current YCAT artist clarinettist Jonathan Leibovitz, alongside pianist Jean-Sélim Abdelmoula, violinist Hana Chang and the Quatuor Agate - spent five days in residence at TauberPhilharmonie Weikersheim ahead of the concerts, rehearsing together, running workshops for school pupils in Wertheim, and shaping two substantial chamber programmes before taking them to audiences across the Tauber valley and beyond.

At the heart of the project is Ernest Chausson's Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, paired with chamber arrangements including Wagner's Prélude from Tristan und Isolde, Ravel's Kaddish, and Schoenberg's celebrated arrangement of Strauss's Kaiserwalzer. A second programme brings together Mozart's Kegelstatt Trio and Elgar's Piano Quintet in A minor.

Alongside the concert preparation, the artists spent a day at Schlösschen im Hofgarten in Wertheim running workshops for local school pupils - part of what YCAT hopes will become a defining feature of the residency model: using the time artists spend together not only to rehearse, but to connect with the communities hosting them.

Tour Dates

The first performances took place across four evenings in late June at venues in Wertheim, Weikersheim and Schloss Leitheim, and the tour continues in October 2026 before returning in spring 2027 for performances at the Reitstadel in Neumarkt - giving this cohort of artists and their repertoire time to deepen and evolve well beyond a single set of concerts.

For YCAT, the residency initiative represents the recognition that supporting outstanding young musicians means investing not only in performances, but in the relationships that sustain a career. That is something an organisation like YCAT - with forty years of outstanding artists behind it - is perfectly placed to provide. By bringing together current artists, alumni and presenters, we hope to build the conditions for lasting relationships, new collaborations and ambitious artistic work to flourish.

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Banner image © Sven-Kristian Wolf