Learn. Perform. Excel.
The YAF Experience - Chamber Music, Masterclasses, Recitals, and more throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
YAF is where you are. By forming local chamber groups of students and pairing them with teaching artists actively engaged in the area, we create opportunities to foster and present artistic achievement in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. Rehearsals, performances, and masterclasses, are thoughtfully hosted to reduce travel while offering greater coverage of exceptional musical experiences to more communities.
A Comprehensive Emphasis on Performance
2025-2026 Season
Schedules are Subject to Change*
​August 4-8, 2025
Summer Chamber Music Intensive Week
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August 9, 2025
Summer Chamber Music Student Concert
Location TBD
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August 11, 2025
Fall Semester Begins
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September 2025
Guest Artist Masterclass - TBA
Student Solo Recital - TBA
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October 2025
Guest Artist Masterclass - TBA
Student Solo Recital - TBA
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November 2025
Fall Student Showcase Concert - TBA
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January 5, 2026
Spring Semster Begins​
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February 2026
Guest Artist Masterclass - TBA
Student Solo Recital - TBA
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April 2026
Spring Student Showcase Concert - TBA
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Rehearsal Locations
San Francisco, CA
Foster City, CA
Mountain View, CA
Sunnyvale, CA
​Summer Chamber Music Intensive Week (August 4-9, 2025)
The Summer Chamber Music Intensive Week is a week-long version of the Chamber Music Collective to bring back focus and prepare students for the rigors of the upcoming academic year. Like in the Chamber Music Collective, audition results determine, group assignments and repertoire. Assignments are made by June 30, giving students ample time to study their parts. During July, students coordinate with their assigned coach to finalize the location and schedule for 5 90-minute coaching sessions to take place Monday August 4 - Friday August 8. The week ends on Saturday August 9, 2025, in an end-of-summer concert.
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Students without prior chamber music experience are strongly encouraged to participate in Chamber Music Intensive Week as an introduction to the intricacies of music making exposed only through Chamber Music.
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Fall Semester (August - November)
With the academic year in full swing, Fall semester focuses on more ambitious repertoire than the Summer Chamber Music Intensive Week, typically longer or more challenging works by great composers. Fall semester represents sustained training in chamber music toward a larger goal of performing before the holiday season. Guest artists are brought in for masterclasses in September and October, with all students of the appropriate instrument encouraged to participate. Students also have one of two opportunities to showcase their individual talents in our Recital Series.
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Spring Semester (January - April)
Students are assigned new groups and coaches for greater exposure to more professional musicians, students, and repertoire. Two more guest artist masterclasses and student recitals are scheduled for February and March. The concert season ends by late April in time for students to focus on standardized testing and other academic activities to wrap up the season.
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Participation in all sessions is not required, but encouraged for a consistent learning experience.
An Investment in Student Excellence
Our performance-oriented programs are designed to elevate standards not only for students, but the cultural landscape of the San Francisco Bay Area. We operate with an unwavering commitment to never sacrifice quality of instruction for expedience. Such is reflected in our choice to work exclusively with faculty and guest artists with internationally-recognized achievements to deliver an exemplary performing arts education. We believe in such an investment to drive students' lifelong journeys toward success, imparting the behaviors of individual excellence, and whose results will continue to serve them long after they move on from YAF.
2025-2026 Tuition and Fees
Application Fees
$40 by May 31, 2025
$65 by June 15, 2025
$95 Mid-season by November 15, 2025, with Foundation Approval
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Enrollment Deposit
A non-refundable enrollment deposit of $300 is due upon acceptance to YAF, credited toward the last enrolled session of the season (Summer pre-season, Fall, Spring).
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Summer Pre-season Chamber Music Intensive Week August 4-9
$895 if participating in summer only
$795 if additionally enrolling in either Fall or Spring
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Fall 2025 (August 11 - November 22)
$2145 if enrolling in Fall only
$1875 if enrolling in both Fall and Spring
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Spring 2026 (January 5 - April 25)
$2145 if enrolling in Spring only
$1875 if enrolling in both Fall and Spring
Financial Assistance and Scholarships
YAF is committed to recognizing student talent and dedication to excellence in classical music, and ensures all qualifying students have access to the financial resources they need in order to participate in our programs. Through our generous donor base, YAF offers tuition waivers, need-based financial assistance, and merit-based scholarships.
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The YAF Merit Scholars program is a rigorous in-person audition and interview that awards full tuition scholarships to YAFs programs for a full season. Recipients are exceptional students dedicated to someday becoming influential figures in classical music, and are featured prominently in recitals, masterclasses and special events. Each scholarship is named after a donor who has made significant contributions to YAF's mission of furthering the arts in the San Francisco Bay Area. Students seeking to apply to the YAF Merit Scholars program should apply through the regular application process, including a few additional steps:
1. Check the box in the regular Application indicating intent to apply for the YAF Merit Scholarship audition.
2. A letter of recommendation from their private teacher
3. Based on their regular application video audition, selected candidates will then be invited for an in-person audition and interview of additional materials to take place no later than June 30, 2025. Please see the YAF Merit Scholars page for instrument-specific requirements.
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Through Financial Assistance, YAF also makes significant investments in students with demonstrated need and playing ability, but do not yet qualify for the YAF Merit Scholars Program.​​​ In addition to regular application materials, students applying for Financial Assistance will be asked to provide:
1. A written personal statement describing their artistic goals (see Application for details)
2. A copy of their Parents' or legal guardians' most recent tax return
3. A letter of recommendation from their private teacher
Financial Assistance determinations are made before the start of the season.​​​
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BassoonEtudes Weissenborn, 50 Advanced Studies: One slow and one fast etude Concerto Weber Concerto in F, movements 1 and 2 Memorization of repertoire and accompaniment is not required.
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CelloConcerto Prepare the complete first movement of one of the following, with piano accompaniment Barber – Concerto Dvořák – Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104 Haydn – Concerto in D Major Prokofiev – Symphonie Concertante, Op. 125 Schumann – Concerto in A Minor, Op. 129 Shostakovich – Concerto no 1, Op. 107 Tchaikovsky – Rococo Variations, Op. 33 (complete) Other One Bach Prelude of the applicant’s choice from Suites 2 - 6 All repertoire must be memorized, with no exceptions.
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ClarinetEtudes One of the following caprices: • 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, or 17 from Paganini, Dix-Sept Caprices adapted for the clarinet and published by Éditions Musicales Alphonse Leduc. Concerto Two movements or more from one of the following: Copland Concerto (entire work) Corigliano Concerto Mozart Concerto, K. 622 Nielsen Concerto Weber Concerto No. 2 in E-flat Memorization of repertoire is highly recommended but not required. Piano accompaniment for the Concerto is required.
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Double BassConcerto Any movement from a standard concerto or transcription of the applicant’s choice Bach Any movement of a Bach Cello Suite of the applicant's choice Scales 1 major scale and arpeggio and 1 minor scale and arpeggio in two octaves. All repertoire must be memorized, and piano accompaniment is required where applicable.
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FluteEtudes Etude #1 from Anderson, Op. 33 Mozart Concerto Movements 1 and 2 from either Concerto in G Major or Concerto in D Major Additional Concerto Choose between the Ibert Concerto (movements 1 and 2 OR movement 3) or the Nielson Concerto (movement 1) Memorization of audition repertoire (except for etudes) is highly recommended but not required. Memorization is not required. Piano accompaniment is required where applicable.
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OboeConcerto One movement of a concerto of choice Contrasting Movement One contrasting movement of a solo piece (unaccompanied piece, sonata, or of the same concerto) Memorization is not required. Piano accompaniment is required where applicable.
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PianoEtude Any virtuosic etude of the candidate's choice from by Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, or Stravinsky Baroque A baroque composition of the candidate's choosing Sonata A classical sonata movement by Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, or Schubert Concerto A movement of a substantial piano concerto from the romantic period or later All repertoire must be memorized, with no exceptions.
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ViolinConcerto One movement of a concerto from any of the following, with piano accompaniment: Brahms - Concerto in D Major, Op. 77 Bruch - Concerto in G Minor, Op. 26 Mendelssohn - Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64 Paganini - Concerto no 1 in D Major, Op. 6 Sibelius - Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47 Tchaikovsky - Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 Wieniawski - Concerto no 1. in F Sharp Minor, Op. 14 Bach An unaccompanied movement of the applicant’s choice. All violin repertoire must be memorized, with no exceptions.
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ViolaConcerto The first movement of a major concerto such as Bartók, Hindemith, Walton, Stamitz, or Hoffmeister Sonata A movement of a sonata with piano or comparable work, such as the Bruch Romance Bach Any movement from an unaccompanied work of the candidate's choosing All repertoire must be memorized, except the sonata movement with piano. Piano accompaniment is required where applicable.