2026 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipients (left to right): Dmitry Yudin, Keila Wakao, Leland Ko, and Nathan Meltzer. Photo by Jennifer Taylor.
The 2026 Avery Fisher Career Grants were announced on March 24 at the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space at classical music station WQXR in New York City. The recipients are Leland Ko, cellist; Nathan Meltzer, violinist; Keila Wakao, violinist; and Dmitry Yudin, pianist. The Avery Fisher Artist Program was established in 1974 by Avery Fisher as part of a major gift to Lincoln Center. Since 1976, 183 Career Grants have been awarded (including this year’s grants), and all recipients maintain active music careers. Former Career Grant recipients include pianists Jonathan Biss and Yuja Wang; cellists Carter Brey and Zlatomir Fung; violinists Sarah Chang and Paul Huang; violist Matthew Lipman; double bassist Nina Bernat; and the Calidore String Quartet. Avery Fisher Career Grants of the Avery Fisher Artist Program are designed to give professional assistance and recognition to talented instrumentalists as well as small chamber ensembles who have great potential for major careers in classical music. Each recipient receives an award of $25,000, to be used for advancing a career. The Career Grant ceremony performances are professionally recorded for the recipients’ unrestricted use, archived on the Program’s website, webcast live and later broadcast and streamed by WQXR, and featured on the Taking Note series on PBS. Learn more here.
