100 Southern California High School Students Selected as Semifinalists in The Music Center's 34th Annual Spotlight Competition

The Music Center today announced 100 of Southern California's most talented high school students as semifinalists in The Music Center's 34th annual Spotlight (Spotlight) program, a free nationally acclaimed performing arts competition, scholarship and artistic development program for teens. A TMC Arts program, Spotlight provides Southern California teens with expert advice, coaching, auditions and mastery classes taught by professional artists and arts administrators. The program recognizes and rewards all participants throughout the competition with a range of benefits such as individual feedback from industry professionals, performance opportunities and more than $100,000 in cash awards through three rounds of auditions.

This year, more than 1,300 teens representing more than 256 schools, 181 cities and 8 counties auditioned for the prestigious program. Students compete in seven categories: acting, classical voice, non-classical voice, ballet, dance, classical instrumental and jazz instrumental. All applicants receive written feedback from distinguished panels of judges following each audition round to help students improve and gain knowledge in their particular performance discipline. An important part of The Music Center's fundamental support for arts learning, the program provides students the opportunity to develop their performance abilities, receive valuable college preparedness skills and gain confidence to pursue their dreams in the performing arts. Through a supportive environment, students also develop important life skills, including building selfa??esteem, preparation and perseverance, that benefit them beyond the stage.

"After nearly two years of online programming and distanced arts learning, The Music Center is thrilled to bring the Spotlight performance and in-person arts experiences back to our campus. Spotlight offers participants multiple opportunities for artistic development that help these aspiring young performers hone their craft and guide their aspirations, whether that be on stage or in the boardroom," said Rachel S. Moore, president and CEO of The Music Center. "We want to ensure young people have a supportive and nurturing environment and performance experiences that allow them to develop their talents and determine their path. Spotlight offers the means for them to do that."

"Despite the limitations we all faced during the pandemic, The Music Center's Spotlight persevered. We were fortunate to be able to continue the program as a completely free competition, and the results are simply spectacular, with so many young people from across the Southland applying and inspiring all of us with their enthusiasm, talent and passion for the arts," added Jeri Gaile, Fredric Roberts Director of The Music Center's Spotlight program. "While Spotlight is very much a competition, we also focus on developing each student's artistic skills and nurturing their growth. Our goal is to support each applicant in every way possible, be that providing detailed notes from a judge on how to better their performance or showing them alternative careers in the arts beyond the stage."

Spotlight semifinalists have the rare opportunity to attend a special mastery class in their discipline with highly regarded artists, who share their expertise on performance technique, training and professional life. Experts provide students with highly valuable feedback on their performances, offering them a rich learning experience. Each semifinalist will audition again before a new panel of judges, who will then select the top two finalist performers in each category for a total of 14 Grand Prize Finalists. Judges will also name an Honorable Mention in each category. The Grand Prize Finalists will perform in The Music Center's Spotlight Grand Finale Performance on June 15, 2022, at 7:30 p.m., at The Music Center's Ahmanson Theatre.

The Music Center's Spotlight program awards more than $100,000 in cash scholarships annually. Semifinalists each receive $300. The eventual Grand Prize Finalists will each receive $5,000 scholarships, plus one Honorable Mention in each category will receive $1,000. The Music Center also celebrates five students in each category with the Merit Award, which acknowledges students who inspire the judges by their commitment and dedication to their art form; Spotlight Merit Award recipients each receive $100.

To help students interested in applying to the Spotlight program, The Music Center created The Spotlight Academy as an episodic series of online videos and tutorials. Designed for young artists, parents and educators, The Spotlight Academy features 15 webisodes that focus on subjects related to applying for the Spotlight program as well as advice for anyone considering a career in the arts, both on- or offstage. The videos provide a deep dive into the program's seven categories and discuss curated topics featuring alumni and experts in the field, including Superstore actress Carla Renata, opera singer Suzanna Guzmán and New York City Ballet principal dancer Tiler Peck, among others.

Since its launch in 1988, Spotlight has transformed the lives of 53,000 high school students from Santa Barbara to San Diego by being a competition and more. Numerous Spotlight participants have gone on to successful professional careers. Twenty-three finalists are Presidential Scholars, and many more have joined or performed with professional companies including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, Metropolitan Opera, LA Opera, Boston Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic, among others. Notable Spotlight alumni include Misty Copeland, who made history in the dance world as the first African American principal dancer for American Ballet Theatre; Adam Lambert and Josh Groban, pop recording artists; Kris Bowers, Emmy Award-winning composer whose work includes the scores for Bridgerton, Green Book and Dear White People; Lindsay Mendez, Tony Award winner for her role in the Broadway revival of Carousel and now starring in the television drama All Rise; Erin Mackey, star of Broadway's Wicked, Sondheim on Sondheim, Anything Goes, Chaplin, and Amazing Grace; Matthew Rushing, associate artistic director for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; Yao Guang Zhai, associate principal clarinet of the Toronto Symphony; Gerald Clayton, GRAMMY Award-winning jazz recording artist; and many others.

Fredric Roberts is the founding chairman of The Music Center's Spotlight program. The late Walter E. Grauman is the creator. The Music Center's Spotlight program is generously supported by The Hearst Foundations.

For more information about The Music Center's Spotlight program, visit musiccenter.org/spotlight or join the conversation on facebook.com/MusicCenterSpotlight/.