About Young Artists Foundation
Young Artists Foundation (YAF)'s mission is to provide educational programs and support for students to become the next generation of responsible stewards of classical music.
Stewardship
Stewardship is accepting responsibility for something greater than oneself. It is reflected in those who perform, teach, support, advocate, preserve, and share classical music, each contributing in different ways toward its continued growth.
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Students develop stewardship through careful preparation, thoughtful interpretation, and public presentation. As chamber musicians, they learn to coexist by listening and responding. As performers, they learn to engage their communities with the arts. They carry these principles of shared artistic responsibility with them, no matter what paths they choose.
History
YAF was founded by experienced leadership in music administration, fine-arts patronage, and conservatory alumni to bring an exemplary young musicians' training program to the San Francisco Bay Area. Continuing the tradition of Young Musicians Foundation's former elite division in Los Angeles, which from 1952 until its closure in 2017 produced many of today's classical music leaders, YAF maintains similar training environments for future generations.
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Since its inception, YAF has awarded scholarships, loaned fine instruments, and fiscally sponsored artistic initiatives in furtherance of its mission.​​​​​​ YAF and its faculty have supported students who have enrolled in higher education at The Juilliard School, American University, UC Berkeley, Caltech, Carnegie Mellon University, Harvard, and NYU studying a variety of majors.