Eligibility Requirements
Applying to Spotlight is easy, but first make sure you are eligible to participate:
- You must be a Southern California high school student who attends a public, private, online or home school. Your home base must be in one of these counties: Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Kern, San Diego, Riverside or San Bernardino.
- You must be an enrolled high school student as of December 31, 2024. You may not be enrolled as a full-time college student.
- Dance and Ballet students need to check the category rules page for residency exceptions
- You may apply to one or more of these categories: Acting, Ballet, Dance, Classical Voice, Non-Classical Voice, Classical Instrumental or Contemporary Instrumental.
- Previous grand prize finalists are not eligible
- Previous participants, Merit, Semifinalists and Honorable Mention awardees are eligible
- You may apply to more than one category; however, you will only be allowed to advance to the finals in one category, which will be determined by the category in which you advance to the finals first.
- You must participate in Semifinal auditions, final rehearsals, final performance filming and the live performance if you become a Grand Prize Finalist.
- All judges decisions are final.
- You must complete the online application by October 14, 2024. Get your applications in early so you don't miss out!
- Prepare and upload your audition video (recorded November 2023 - October 2024). Don't get nervous, we are going to make this super easy. If you get stuck along the way, just email us at spotlight@musiccenter.org
Category Rules
Read the rules for each category and watch the tutorial videos for Spotlight Director Jeri Gaile's helpful application tips!
More Information
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Connect With Us
Facebook: @MusicCenterSpotlight
Instagram: @MusicCenterSpotlight
Twitter: @SpotlightAwards
TikTok: @musiccenterspotlight
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Support Spotlight
The free, year-long Spotlight program is made possible by the generosity of our donors. Learn more about all the ways you can support the Spotlight program.
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