Julia Goodwin Wins 2013 Great American Songbook Competition in Carmel

Julia Goodwin is the 2013 winner of the Great American Songbook Vocal Academy and Competition. The 15-year-old is from Baldwinsville, New York. During the finals concert on July 26, she sang two American standards: "Dream A Little Dream of Me," and "Feeling Good."

As the first place winner she receives $3,000 and the chance of a lifetime: the opportunity to perform with two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award nominated entertainer and founder of the Feinstein Initiative, Michael Feinstein. The first place winner will serve as the Great American Songbook Youth Ambassador for one year and will have opportunities to perform throughout the year.

Goodwin, who began singing as a toddler, will be a sophomore at CW Baker High School in Baldwinsville, New York. She has sung tunes from the Songbook by Etta James, among others, and has come to have a deep appreciation for the impact these songs continue to have on music today. She enjoys how music and singing alike can alter a mood and bring cheer to other people as well. She is also a lacrosse player and involved in chorus.

Goodwin joined nine other high school vocalists at the week-long academy and competition, held in the Indiana city of Carmel. The annual event is sponsored by the Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Initiative and is the only U.S. competition dedicated solely to the music from Broadway, Hollywood musicals and the Tin Pan Alley era of the early to mid-twentieth century.

"Through this competition, we are reaching a new generation to teach this music and the American history that inspired and influenced these composers," said Michael Feinstein, the Initiative's founder and noted American Songbook ambassador.

The second place winner, Kyrie Courter, Chicago, will receive $2000. The third place position was a tie, with winners, Sam Pomales, Springboro, Ohio, and, Melinda Rodriguez, Miami, FL, both receiving $1500 toward continuing music education. The finalists for 2013 were selected from regional competitions from 22 states - Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. The regional competitions were held May-June 2013 and included a full day of workshops followed by an evening performance. Two finalists were selected in each region.

The finalists included:

Brittany Bauerly Dubuque, IA Dubuque Hempstead High School

Kyrie Courter Chicago, IL Chicago High School for the Arts

Morgan Rose Berkeley, CA Berkeley High School

Grace Wipfli Ottawa Hills, OH Ottawa Hills High School

Julia Goodwin Baldwinsville, NY CW Baker High School

Maya Jacobson Clearwater, FL Berkeley Prep

Brandon Ocasio Astoria, NY LaGuardia Arts High School

Sam Pomales Springboro, OH Home school

Melinda Rodriguez Miami, FL Miami Arts Charter School

Emma Roos San Francisco, CA St. Ignatius College Prep

The 10 finalists convened at the Feinstein Initiative's headquarters in Carmel, IN, July 21-26, 2013, to participate in a five-day academy on interpreting and performing the music of the Great American Songbook. Five-time Grammy nominee, Michael Feinstein, and other top music industry professionals will conduct workshops and master classes throughout the week. The final competition performance was held in the 1,600 seat Palladium Concert Hall at the Center for the Performing Arts.

Judges and mentors included:

Michael Feinstein, the multi-platinum-selling, five-time Grammy-nominated entertainer dubbed "The Ambassador of the Great American Songbook," is considered one of the premier interpreters of American standards. His 200-plus shows a year have included performances at Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House and the Hollywood Bowl as well as the White House and Buckingham Palace.

Jane Monheit is a two-time Grammy nominated vocalist, known around the world for her jazz and adult contemporary style. In addition to her own recordings, including 9 albums and 2 DVD's, she has worked alongside the likes of Michael Bublé, Terence Blanchard, Tom Harrell, and Ivan Lins. Recognized internationally, Jane has performed at most, if not all of the main concert and jazz venues around the world.

Sandi Patty is one of the most highly acclaimed performers of our time with five Grammy awards, four Billboard Music Awards, three platinum records, five gold records, and eleven million units sold. Sandi Patty is simply known as The Voice.

Sylvia McNair is a two-time Grammy Award winner and regional Emmy Award winner. Her journey has taken her from the Metropolitan Opera to the Salzburg Festival, from the New York Philharmonic to the Rainbow Room, from the Ravinia Festival to The Plaza, from the pages of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal to the London Times and the cover of Cabaret Scenes. She has appeared as a soloist multiple times with nearly every major opera company and symphony orchestra in the world.

Jim Caruso made his Broadway debut alongside Liza Minnelli in the Tony Award winning show, Liza's At The Palace!, singing, dancing and celebrating the music and arrangements of the late, great Kay Thompson and the Williams Brothers. For the past ten years, he has hosted a weekly Monday night showbiz bash called "Jim Caruso's Cast Party," at Birdland Jazz Club.

Dr. Kathleen Hacker, soprano, is Chair of the Music Department, Director of Vocal Studies and Associate Professor of Music at the University of Indianapolis. In addition to her duties at the University, she pursues a very active singing career around the country. She made her New York debut as soloist with the American Symphony Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall and has sung with major symphony orchestras around the United States including the symphonies of Baltimore, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis, where she appeared as cover for Sandi Patty as the featured guest artist in their Indianapolis Symphony Yuletide Celebration.

The Great American Songbook High School Vocal Academy & Competition is a celebration of the Golden Age of American Popular music. This program is the only high school vocal competition in the U.S. dedicated solely to the music from Broadway, Hollywood musicals and the Tin Pan Alley era of the early to mid-twentieth century. The Vocal Academy & Competition was created to provide an opportunity for young people to experience firsthand this uniquely American music and its cultural significance.

The Great American Songbook High School Vocal Academy & Competition is designed to be a collaborative, rewarding, and fun experience for all participants. Regional competitions consist of one-day intensives focused on singing and interpreting the music of the Great American Songbook, led by music educators and industry professionals. Two winners from each of the five regional events proceed to the final competition week at the Feinstein Initiative's headquarters at the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, IN. Students will have the opportunity to participate in workshops, one-on-one coaching sessions, and master classes with celebrity performers and music industry professionals. The final week's events will culminate in a live show on July 26, 2013, at the Palladium in Carmel, IN, where the top three winners will be selected. The first place winner will become the Great American Songbook Youth Ambassador and will have opportunities to perform throughout the year representing the Michael Feinstein Initiative.

Michael Feinstein founded the Great American Songbook Initiative in 2007 in order to preserve, promote, and perpetuate the music of the Great American Songbook. The mission of the Initiative is to bring the music of the Great American Songbook to young people today and to preserve it for future generations. The work of the Feinstein Initiative includes:

* High School Vocal Competition

* Educational programming

* Library, Archive, and Gallery

* Great American Songbook Hall of Fame

Michael Feinstein, the multi-platinum-selling, two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award-nominated entertainer dubbed "The Ambassador of the Great American Songbook," is considered one of the premier interpreters of American standards. His 200-plus shows a year have included performances at Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House and the Hollywood Bowl as well as the White House and Buckingham Palace.

More than simply a performer, Feinstein has received national recognition for his commitment to celebrating America's popular song and preserving its legacy for the next generation. In 2007, he founded the Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Initiative, dedicated to celebrating the art form and preserving it through educational programs, Master Classes, and the annual High School Vocal Academy and Competition, which awards prizes to students across the country. Michael serves on the Library of Congress' National Recording Preservation Board; an organization dedicated to ensuring the survival, conservation and increased public availability of America's sound recording heritage.

Feinstein serves as Artistic Director of the Palladium Center for the Performing Arts, a $170 million, three-theatre venue in Carmel, Indiana, which opened in January 2011. The Center is home to the Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Initiative Archive and museum. Starting in 2010, he became the director of the Jazz and Popular Song Series at New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center. In 2013, he will replace the late Marvin Hamlisch as the lead conductor of the Pasadena Pops.

Feinstein can be seen on PBS in his award winning series, Michael Feinstein's American Songbook. He can also be heard on NPR in his current show, Song Travels with Michael Feinstein. His new book, The Gershwins and Me, which is combined with a new CD of Gershwin standards performed with Cyrus Chestnut at the piano, was released by Simon & Schuster in October 2012.