Wells Fargo ArtsVibe Teen Program Presents Voices & Vibes Festival Today

The Wells Fargo ArtsVibe Teen Program has announced more than 40 participants who will perform as finalists in the second annual, free Voices & Vibes Festival today, May 10, 2014, at the Woodruff Arts Center. The selected teens will demonstrate their skills ranging from spoken word to singing, and dance to musical performances, during the showcase in the finale of the Festival. The complete list is available here.

The Voices & Vibes Festival celebrates teens who are engaged in the Atlanta artistic community by providing them with an opportunity to perform, partake in workshops, and participate in exciting activities.

"This Festival is a fantastic opportunity to see what teens can create when given the challenge and resources to collaboratively express themselves through the arts," said Wells Fargo ArtsVibe Teen Program Coordinator Kaitlin Gress. "We're so grateful to Wells Fargo for making this teen program possible, and we're all excited to see what this year's Festival will bring."

The Festival will begin at 2:00 p.m. and will include an afternoon of workshops and interactive art challenges for teens. The Woodruff Arts Center's campus will be transformed into a hub of live music, collaborative art-making, and games for attendees.

Closing the day's activities is the featured showcase of teen performers, which begins at 7:00 p.m. More than 150 teens auditioned to participate, and 40 teens were selected to be featured in the 20 performance slots of the showcase. The finalists span eight counties and represent 12 high schools and one university.

"The showcase is really about helping young people find their voice through the arts and expressing that voice to the broader community," said Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Vice President for Education and Community Engagement Mark Kent. "The entire approach focuses on arts as a means of communication - these teens giving their perspective on issues in the world that are important to them. Many of the performances are original works, with topics ranging from coming of age, to the joy and sadness of first loves. It should be both a beautiful and powerful evening."

In preparation for the showcase, the teens will work with professional artists -including American actor Bryan Mercer- over the next three months. Together, they will collaboratively develop a show which, through the arts, will share their unique voices while expressing a sense of teen identity to the broader Atlanta community.

"We're thrilled at the demand from teens to participate in this event and to put their incredible talent on display for the community," said Mike Donnelly, Atlanta region president for Wells Fargo. "We are so happy with our partnership with the Woodruff Arts Center for this special endeavor to enrich the lives of the young people throughout metropolitan Atlanta."

The Voices & Vibes Festival is produced by the Wells Fargo ArtsVibe Teen Program with support from a collaboration by the four divisions of the Woodruff Arts Center - The Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, High Museum of Art, and Young Audiences.