Manatee School for the Arts Senior to Perform with Michael Feinstein at the Van Wezel, 2/14

Nick Drivas, a senior at Manatee School for the Arts, will join Grammy-nominated vocalist, Michael Feinstein, in a performance at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on February 14. Drivas was a national finalist for the 2014 Songbook Academy, sponsored by The Great American Songbook Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Michael Feinstein.

Now in its sixth year, the Songbook Academy provides high school singers in grades 9-12 with the life-changing opportunity to work with music industry professionals and educators from top college arts programs to experience firsthand the uniquely American and culturally significant music known as the Great American Songbook.

"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, founder of the program and the organization called the Great American Songbook Foundation.

Drivas, a 17-year-old from Bradenton, Florida, won the 2014 Southeast regional Songbook Academy event in Atlanta, Georgia. He joined eleven other high school vocalists at the week-long Academy, held in the Indiana city of Carmel. The annual event is sponsored by the Great American Songbook Foundation and is the only U.S. high school program dedicated solely to the music from Broadway, Hollywood musicals, and the Tin Pan Alley era of the early to mid-twentieth century.

Applications for the 2015 Songbook Academy are now available online at www.TheSongbook.org until March 25, 2015. The program is open to all high school students in the continental United States.

Submissions are judged by a panel of music educators and industry professionals, who will provide written feedback to every applicant. Approximately 40 students will be invited to attend the Songbook Academy week in Carmel, IN, July 18-25, 2015, where they will be mentored and further evaluated. Participants will be eligible for various recognition opportunities and awards. Participants will be eligible for the chance to be named Songbook Youth Ambassador, Songbook Inspiration Award Winner and Songbook Celebration Award winner. All participants will be named Songbook Scholars, receive a letter of recommendation for college applications, and letters highlighting their achievement will be sent to their high schools. All participants will become members of the Songbook Alumni Network and will have access to ongoing educational opportunities, access to scholarship opportunities, information on arts programs and audition opportunities, and invitations to participate and perform in future regional events.

Watch Nick's 2014 Songbook Academy performance below!

The mission of the Great American Songbook Foundation is to inspire and educate by celebrating the Great American Songbook.

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