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Joining the YAV Roster

Young Audiences provides 50-minute performances and 50-minute workshops to schools, museums, and libraries across the state of Virginia. We also provide residencies, where an artist is planted in a location for an extended stay in order to accomplish a pre-determined artistic and educational goal with a small group of returning students.

Performances are correlated to the SOLs or Standards of Learning for the State of Virginia, and all programs and artists are supervised by the Artistic Director. Audience participation is a core ingredient in teaching through the arts. These student interactions should reinforce the artistic process or support the overall educational theme. YAV contracts artists in all art forms to supplement this mission.

Artist Benefits

Many artists come to YAV for the strong reputation they have with educators an school systems. YAV offers many services deemed valuable to artists. While we are NOT a booking agency, YAV does maintain strong contacts with educators and produces a main catalog each year that is the primary source for marketing. Additional marketing is provided as needed to artists that need to increase their bookings.

YAV handles all communications for artists. YAV actively promotes you, takes care of your scheduling process and intervenes on your behalf. With YAV the only reason a performer must call a school is to confirm that they received your paperwork and that they expect you on the correct time and date.

Compensation is mailed to artists within two-weeks of invoicing YAV.

YAV is the largest arts-in-education organization in the state and has a powerful National network and resources at your disposal. Educators trust our content and know they are getting quality.

Training and opportunities. YAV has modeled and introduced new concepts in arts-in-education over the years. If you want to grow through artist training and stand on the frontier of innovative ideas, YAV is the place for you.

Networking with other YAV artists and YA artists nationally. Share ideas or bounce them around with some of the best in the business.

Compensation

Fees are negotiated per artist or ensemble based on geographical location and ensemble size. Compensation for all artists may include mileage, meal per diem and hotel when on tour with Young Audiences of Virginia, Inc.

Hours

About 80 percent of performances occur between 8 AM and 4 PM Monday through Friday. Performances are scheduled year-round, but expect fewer opportunities during the summer. Residency projects tend to take place as after school programs between the hours of 2 and 5 PM, however; residencies can take place during school hours. There is no guarantee of bookings for any artist.

Scheduling

The artist sends their monthly calendar to the Scheduling Director in order to determine the best time frame to offer bookings for that artist. Once artists received confirmed paperwork, they have one-week to decline the performance; otherwise it is considered a contractual obligation.

Travel

Not all artists need to travel the entire state, but flexibility with travel is preferred. Artists may determine their travel boundaries contractually. In most cases YAV will only schedule an artist for great distances by building a tour (or multiple bookings) for the artist. Other artists chose to be open and travel the entire state.

Selection Process

Step 1: All artist materials must be sent to the Artistic Director for approval. You may email materials to artisticdirector@yav.org

Step 2: A meeting is scheduled with the Artistic Director to further determine compatibility.

Step 3: The Artistic Director will preview the artist's upcoming program or will review the artist in a program/performance setting.

Step 4: The artist works with the Artistic Director to develop or to adjust the artist's program. If it is deemed appropriate for audition, an audition date will be set up.

Step 5: All artists and programs will be auditioned by the Artistic Director and members of the YAV Program Committee in front of an age-appropriate audience. A decision will be made within two weeks of the audition. Artists will either be accepted, provisionally accepted (meaning some changes must be made), or declined.