Cincinnati Arts Association Presents 2010 Overture Awards, 2/27

The Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA) will be presenting the 2010 Overture Awards Scholarship Competition - the largest locally run arts scholarship competition in the country. The Overture Awards annually provides a $2,500 scholarship to six area high school students for education and training expenses, with 18 finalists each winning a $500 scholarship.

The Overture Awards Finals Competition and Awards Ceremony will be held on Saturday, February 27, 2010 at the Aronoff Center's Jarson-Kaplan Theater at 1:00 PM. Winners will be announced immediately following the competition. For tickets, visit http://www.cincinnatiarts.org.

This year, 493 students were nominated by their schools to compete in one of six artistic disciplines: Creative Writing, Dance, Instrumental Music, Theater, Visual Art or Vocal Music. The Overture Awards was developed to recognize, encourage and reward excellence in the arts among Tri-state students in grades 9-12. It also provides students an opportunity to share their talents and interests among their peers in a supportive environment outside of their individual schools. There are three levels of competition: Regionals, Semi-Finals and Finals.

The Overture Awards Regional Competitions were held in January at Northern Kentucky University, The University of Cincinnati's Raymond Walters College, Saint Ursula Academy, Lakeside Christian Church, and Xavier University. The top 20 percent of competitors in each discipline advanced to the Semi-Finals, held at the Aronoff Center the weekend following the Regional Competitions. Twenty-four finalists (four in each discipline) then compete in the Finals Competition at the Aronoff Center.

Now in its fourteenth year, The Overture Awards was launched in 1996 by the Cinergy Foundation (now Duke Energy) and Leadership Cincinnati (a Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce program). The program is administered by the Cincinnati Arts Association, which operates and manages the Aronoff Center and Music Hall. The Overture Awards also relies on hundreds of volunteers from the community who help raise funds, adjudicate and manage the competitions, and nurture the program.

THE 2010 OVERTURE AWARDS FINALISTS

CREATIVE WRITING

Justine Cefalu - Seven Hills School, grade 11, fiction
Lilly Fleischmann - Cincinnati Country Day School, grade 11, poetry
Sarah Gregory - Notre Dame Academy, grade 12, poetry
Natania Hoffman - Clark Montessori, grade 12, creative non-fiction

DANCE
Taylor Abner - Notre Dame Academy, grade 11, tap
Miranda Culley - Madeira HS, grade 12, Irish
Christina Vergara - Northern Cincinnati Youth Ballet, grade 9, modern
Maggie Westerfield - St. Ursula Academy, grade 9, modern

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
Mackenzie Brauns - Lakota West HS, grade 12, bassoon
Jeffery Huang - Leung Piano Studio, grade 9, piano
Jacqueline Kitzmiller - Walnut Hills HS, grade 11, violin
Jenny Lee - CCM Preparatory, grade 10, violin

THEATER
Alyssa Magarian - Cincinnati Country Day School, grade 12, musical theater
Christopher Markesbery - St. Xavier HS, grade 12, drama
Samuel Ray - Anderson HS, grade 12, musical theater
Nathan Robbins - Loveland HS, grade 11, musical theater

VISUAL ART
Madeline Becker - Walnut Hills HS, grade 11
Caitlin Cook - Lakota West HS, grade 12
Katrina Slavik - Mariemont HS, grade 12
Lyndsey Vu - Lakota West HS, grade 12

VOCAL MUSIC
Nelson Gaker - Randall Wolff Studio, grade 12
Kelly Hamm - Hamm Academy, grade 12
Brian Moore - Anderson HS, grade 11
Sarah Pellington - Milford HS, grade 11

Founded in 1992, the Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA) is a not-for-profit organization that oversees the programming and management of two of the Tri-state's finest performing arts venues - the Aronoff Center for the Arts and Music Hall - and is dedicated to supporting performing and visual arts. Each year, CAA presents a diverse schedule of events; serves upwards of 700,000 people in its venues; features the work of talented local, regional, and national artists in the Weston Art Gallery (located in the Aronoff Center); and supports the work of more than one dozen resident companies. Since the inception of its acclaimed arts education programs in 1995, CAA has reached three-quarters of a million students.

CAA is proud to be a member of Association of Performing Arts Presenters, Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, Greater Cincinnati Convention & Visitors Bureau, Greater Cincinnati Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky African American Chamber of Commerce, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce, and Performing Arts Center Consortium.

 

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