Music Center Announces Spotlight Awards Performing Arts Semi-Finalists
For Immediate Release: January 9, 2007
91 Talented High School Students Advance to Next Round in Prestigious Arts Program
Los Angeles (January 9, 2007) - The Music Center of Los Angeles County announced the 91 talented high school students chosen as performing arts semi-finalists for the 19th annual Music Center Spotlight Awards. Students were selected from among more than 1,155 Southern California applicants who auditioned in ballet, non-classical dance, classical voice, non-classical voice, classical instrumental and jazz instrumental music.
The initial performing arts audition process of the Music Center Spotlight Awards includes participation by students from public and private schools throughout all of Southern California. Each student performs for a panel of expert judges and receives detailed evaluations on their auditions, intended to improve their performing and auditioning technique. It is through this process that the semi-finalists are chosen.
The 91 semi-finalists are given a unique opportunity to work with highly regarded professional artists who offer in-depth insight on performance technique, training, and professional life. Each semi-finalist auditions once again to become one of the 12 finalists (two in each category).
The 12 performing arts finalists are announced in March and are paired with a mentor from the Music Center's Fraternity of Friends, a volunteer membership organization comprised of prominent Los Angeles businessmen and entertainment industry professionals who support the Music Center. The mentors provide guidance and support to the students and their families in preparation for the final competition, the Spotlight Awards show held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Saturday, April 14, 2007.
The Music Center Spotlight Awards program was established in 1988 and is one of the nation's most acclaimed performing and visual arts educational programs for teens. The program has launched numerous professional careers-fourteen finalists are Presidential Scholars and many have joined or performed with professional companies including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, Metropolitan Opera, Boston Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic.
Fredric M. Roberts is founding chairman of the Music Center Spotlight Awards; Dennis Beck is chairman and Walter Grauman creator/executive producer. The program is a project of the Fraternity of Friends.
Bank of America is the principal sponsor of the Music Center Spotlight Awards. The program is also supported by the Max H. Gluck Foundation, the Dorothy B. Chandler Program Fund, the Walter Lantz Foundation, Eloise C. Goodhew Barnett, the Young Foundation, the James B. Pendleton Foundation, and the Claire and Theodore Morse Foundation. Helen and Peter Bing provide scholarship awards for winners and runners-up in performing arts categories.
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