Young Performers Festival » Early Music America

Early Music America (EMA) proudly presented pre-college and collegiate early-music ensembles throughout thge Americas since 2011.

The Young Performers Festival is a central element of the annual Early Music America Summit, with Festival concerts held daily throughout the Summit. Festival participants receive free registration for the duration of the Summit, a travel grant if located outside of immediate the Summit locale, and all performances are professionally recorded and hosted on EMA’s YouTube Channel. Prior to 2023, the Young Performers Festival was presented as part early-music festivals in Berkeley, CA, Bloomington, IN, and Boston, MA, and virtually through EMA’s digital platforms.

McGill Baroque Ensemble and Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra perform a combined finale during the 2023 Young Performers Festival.

Old Dominion University Madrigal Singers perform during the 2023 Young Performers Festival.

The 16th Young Performers Festival will be presented October 22-24, 2026 during the EMA Summit in Seattle, Washington.

YPF2026: Seattle

Selected YPF ensembles will be paired with another YPF ensemble, each performing a 30-minute program as half of a shared concert during the Summit.

All ensemble members and directors of the selected YPF ensembles will receive free registration for the 2026 EMA Summit and will have access to the presentations, panels, workshops, performances, and other networking opportunities as EMA gathers the early-music community together.

Selected ensembles will be issued a $3,000 travel assistance grant to help facilitate travel to Seattle. Ensembles located in the host city area are not eligible for travel grants.

All required materials MUST be submitted via the application form. Require materials listed below.
Please review the eligibility requirements prior to submitting an application.

Application deadline is Sunday, May 3, 2026 at 11:59pm U.S. Pacific Time.

We strongly encourage all applicants to submit your application at least ONE WEEK prior to the deadline in case there are any issues with your application, so we can resolve them in a timely manner before the deadline.

Apply Now!

Those selected for the Young Performers Festival will be notified by the end of June 2026.

Please submit questions to specialprojects@earlymusicamerica.org.

Applicants must be directors of pre-college or collegiate early-music ensembles from schools in the USA, Canada, or Mexico.
Either the director of the ensemble or the school must be a current member of EMA prior to the application deadline. Please ensure your membership is current at the time of submission.
The majority of participants must be students enrolled at the ensemble’s home institution.
- The ensemble may include non-student community participants and/or faculty members as well, as long as they are less than one-third of the members in the ensemble.
Although the term “early music” is understood in different ways, for the purposes of this Festival, it involves the following criteria:
- Attention must be given to matters of historical performance practice.
- Where instrumental performance is involved, the ensemble performs on period instruments OR is working towards the goal of using a period-instrument based group. Please inquire if the pandemic has limited your ability to access appropriate instruments for your repertoire.
- Past YPF programs have typically featured repertoire composed before ca. 1820, however we welcome repertoire from later eras, so long as it meets the criteria above.
- Applicants are strongly encouraged to propose programs that expand beyond the Western canon.

Ensemble Information

Director and/or Contact Name
Ensemble name
Name of affiliated school or university
Contact address
Contact work and cell phone
Contact email
Brief description of the ensemble and its place within its institution
Number of students and community members in the ensemble.
Upload three recent concert programs (PDF only) dating no earlier than January 2024.

Performance recording(s) should meet the following requirements (submitted as a list of the URL addresses of your performance audio or video recordings as well as the title/composers of all pieces performed for each):

A live recording of the ensemble with a minimum of 10 minutes and no longer than 30 minutes of total audio and/or video files.
Recordings must be from no earlier than January 2024.
The recorded examples need not feature the exact same performers (it is assumed that student ensembles change somewhat in their membership from year to year) or the same proposed program, but a substantial number of the performers should be the same.
Submitted performance recordings should be of the highest video or audio quality possible.
We will only accept audio or video recordings in the form of links to YouTube or another internet hosting/streaming site.
Recordings can be multiple short selections, or one long selection.

Festival Travel Grant Payment Details (one required)

Check (Payee name, contact phone, mailing address for check)
Paypal (Payee email)
Zelle (Payee phone number or email address associated with Zelle account. USA only.)

Judging

A panel of educators and professional musicians designated by EMA will assess all applications. Selections will be based on the strength of the application and the quality and creativity of the recorded performances.

Ensembles that have not previously been selected are strongly encouraged to apply.

Ensembles selected for the Young Performers Festival music adhere to the following parameters:

Each ensemble is responsible for one half of a YPF program, although ensembles are a welcome to collaborate on the concert program if they choose.
Individual ensemble programs must be no longer than 30 minutes total, including time between pieces.
Each ensemble will receive an hour of rehearsal time on the concert stage the morning of their YPF concert. Other rehearsal space/time is not guaranteed.
EMA will design and print concert programs. A digital concert program will be provided as well.
Concert details and personnel information must be submitted no later than Monday, September 28, 2026. A form will be provided and the following information will be requested:
- Contact information for the director
- Program Title (if any)
- Program Description (150 words max)
- Repertoire details including the order of pieces, titles/movements, composer names/dates, soloist’s names, timing of each piece.
- Number of chairs/stands requested
- Request for keyboard instruments, if applicable
- Temperament and pitch level for any requested keyboard instruments
- Names and contact emails of all ensemble members
- Ensemble arrive and departure dates
Additional programs notes must be printed by the ensemble or may be sent digitally to be uploaded to the EMA website to be included with the digital program.
Keyboard instruments for performances will be provided based on what is available at McGill University. A list of available keyboards will be sent to those selected for YPF. Other instruments will not be provided and are the responsibility of the performing ensemble to secure.

2025: No Young Performers Festival held

2024: EMA Summit Cleveland

Case Western Reserve University Historical Performance Ensembles
Indiana University Baroque Orchestra
Longy Baroque Flute Ensemble
Oberlin Baroque Ensemble
UCLA Early Music Ensemble

2023: EMA Summit Boston

Case Western Reserve University Historical Performance Ensembles
Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra
McGill Baroque Ensemble
Old Dominion University Madrigal Singers
Special Music School Baroque Ensemble
University of Connecticut Collegium Musicum

2022: Berkeley Festival & Exhibition

Members of Juilliard415
San Francisco Conservatory of Music Baroque Ensemble
UCLA Early Music Ensemble
USC Early Music Ensemble

2021: Virtual

Collaborative virtual performances
view the program

2020: Virtual

Davis Senior High School Baroque Ensemble
Early Music Youth Academy
Juilliard415
McGill Baroque Ensemble
Tonos del Sur (Indiana University)
USC Thornton Early Music

2019: Bloomington Early Music Festival

The Brandenburg Project (Community Music School of Ann Arbor)
McGill Baroque Ensemble
Oberlin Baroque
Peabody Renaissance Ensemble
USC Thornton Collegium Workshop

2018: Bloomington Early Music Festival

B’more Bach Ensemble (Peabody Conservatory)
Case Western Reserve University Baroque Ensemble
Oberlin Baroque
Tarara (Indiana University)
USC Thornton Collegium Musicum

2017: Boston Early Music Festival

McGill Baroque Ensemble
Oberlin Baroque
USC Thornton Collegium Workshop
Westminster Kantorei

2016: Berkeley Festival & Exhibition

USC Thornton Sinfonia
Opera Nova (Indiana University)
Bowling Green State University Early Music Ensemble
Case Western Reserve University Collegium Musicum Medieval Ensemble
University Baroque Ensemble at Brigham Young University of Idaho

2015: Boston Early Music Festival

Case Western Reserve University Baroque Chamber Music and Dance Ensemble
The University of North Texas
The Peabody Conservatory
Oberlin University Baroque Ensemble
Indiana University
McGill Baroque Ensemble
Seattle Historical Arts for Kids

2014: Berkeley Festival & Exhibition

Arethusa Musica
McGill School’s The Victoria IV Madrigal Ensemble
Case Western Reserve University Baroque Chamber Music and Dance Ensemble
Liaison Baroque Ensemble
USC Thornton Baroque Sinfonia
Musa Baroque Ensemble

2013: Boston Early Music Festival

Tufts Early Music Ensemble
Longy School of Music Bard College; Longy Dufay Ensemble; Longy Lassus Consort and Longy Bach Cantata Project
Juilliard 415
The Peabody Consort
University of North Texas Baroque Orchestra and Collegium Singers
Florida State Early Music Ensemble
USC Thornton Baroque Sinfonia
Case Western Reserve University, Collegium Musicum
Oberlin Baroque Ensemble
McGill University Baroque Orchestra
the Sebastians

2012: Berkeley Festival & Exhibition

San Francisco Conservatory of Music Baroque Ensemble
University of California at Berkeley Baroque Chamber Ensemble
University of North Texas Collegium Singers
Stanford University Baroque Ensemble
Case Western Reserve University Baroque Ensemble and Collegium Musicum
USC Thornton Baroque Sinfonia

2011: Boston Early Music Festival

Stony Brook Baroque Players
Harvard University Early Music Society
Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Institute of Music Baroque Orchestra
McGill University Baroque Orchestra
University of North Texas Baroque Orchestra and Collegium Singers
Brandeis Early Music Ensemble
Longy School of Music Collegium Musicum
Peabody Conservatory ensembles
Case Western Reserve University Violin Band and Collegium Musicum
Boston University Chamber Ensemble
Oberlin Baroque Ensemble
¡Sacabuche! from Indiana University
University of Southern California Collegium Musicum and Thornton Baroque Sinfonia
EMA Festival Ensemble