Nationally Recognized Arts Learning Program and Competition Offers $100,000+ in Scholarships for Aspiring Artists with Performance Opportunities and Invaluable Professional Feedback
LOS ANGELES (February 19, 2025)—The Music Center announced today that 113 of Southern California’s most talented high school students have advanced to become semifinalists in The Music Center’s 37th Annual Spotlight program, a free, nationally acclaimed performing arts competition, scholarship and artistic development program for teens. More than 1,600 teens, representing 269 schools, 174 cities and eight counties, auditioned this year, and five of the 113 semifinalists earned spots in two separate artistic categories in the prestigious program.
A longstanding initiative of The Music Center’s programming arm TMC Arts, Spotlight provides Southern California teens with expert feedback, advice, coaching, auditions and mastery classes taught by professional artists and arts administrators in seven categories: acting, ballet, dance, classical voice, non-classical voice, classical instrumental and contemporary instrumental. The program recognizes and rewards participants throughout the competition with more than $100,000 in cash awards following three rounds of auditions. To date, The Music Center has awarded over $2.9 million in scholarships and has transformed the lives of more than 55,000 high school students who hail from across Southern California and the Central Valley, from Kern County to San Diego County.
All Spotlight applicants receive written feedback from distinguished panels of judges following each audition round to help them improve and gain insight in their performing arts discipline. An initiative of The Music Center’s fundamental support for arts learning, Spotlight provides students with the opportunity to develop and hone their performance abilities, receive crucial college preparedness skills and gain the confidence to pursue their dreams in the performing arts. Through a supportive environment, students also develop vital life skills, including self‐esteem, preparation and perseverance, which benefit them beyond the stage.
"I want to congratulate this year’s outstanding class of Spotlight semifinalists! To advance this far into the competition is an incredible achievement and a testament to the talent and hard work of these young artists," said Rachel S. Moore, president and CEO of The Music Center. "More than ever, we need an outpouring of the arts to uplift our spirits and bring us together as a community. These students represent the next generation of performing artists who will bring us hope, joy and inspiration, and I’m proud to say our Spotlight program plays a major role in their artistic and personal development."
Spotlight semifinalists earn the rare opportunity to attend a special mastery class within their discipline with highly regarded artists, who share their expertise on performance technique, training and professional life. These experts provide students with invaluable feedback about their performances, offering the students a rich learning experience. Each semifinalist will audition one last time 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 (two from each category). Judges will also name an Honorable Mention in each category.The Grand Prize Finalists will perform in The Music Center’s Spotlight Grand Finale on Friday, June 6, 2025, at 8:00 p.m., at The Music Center’s Ahmanson Theatre.
"Over the yearlong course of auditions, feedback and mastery classes, our Spotlight participants and team of staff members become like a family. We support each other tirelessly, through good times and challenging ones," said Jeri Gaile, Fredric Roberts director, The Music Center’s Spotlight. "I am immensely proud of all the young artists, who, over the past 37 years, made a commitment to our prestigious competition and kept forging forward in their artistic journeys no matter the obstacles they might have encountered. Their determination and artistic talent are a gift to the world."
The Music Center’s Spotlight semifinalists each receive $500. Grand Prize Finalists will each receive $5,000 scholarships; one Honorable Mention in each category will receive $1,000. Making an indelible impression on this year’s judges, 70 students (10 selected from each category) will each receive a $100 Merit Award; this special honor acknowledges their achievement in the competition and their potential in the performing arts. 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 more than a dozen webisodes 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 New York City Ballet principal dancer Tiler Peck, actor in NCIS: Los Angeles and Netflix’s upcoming The Residence Barrett Foa, mezzo-soprano opera singer Suzanna Guzmán and more.
Since the program’s launch in 1988, numerous Spotlight participants have gone on to successful professional careers. Nearly two dozen past finalists are Presidential Scholars, and many more have joined or performed with professional companies, such as Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, Metropolitan Opera, LA Opera, Boston Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. Notable Spotlight alumni include Misty Copeland, who made history in the dance world as the first African American principal dancer for American Ballet Theatre; recording artists Adam Lambert and Josh Groban; Emmy® Award-winning composer Kris Bowers, whose work includes the scores for Bob Marley: One Love, Bridgerton, Green Book and Dear White People and who is the co-director of the Oscar®-winning short documentary The Last Repair Shop; Lindsay Mendez, Tony Award® winner for her role in the Broadway revival of Carousel and who recently starred in the Broadway revival Merrily We Roll Along; Erin Mackey, star of Broadway’s Wicked, Sondheim on Sondheim, Anything Goes, Chaplin, and Amazing Grace; Matthew Rushing, interim artistic director for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; Yao Guang Zhai, associate principal clarinet of the Toronto Symphony; and Gerald Clayton, GRAMMY® Award-winning jazz recording artist; among many others.
Major support for The Music Center’s Spotlight program is provided by Fredric Roberts, Helen and Peter Bing, Edgerton Foundation and Marie H. Song. Fredric Roberts is founding chairman of Spotlight; the late Walter E. Grauman is the creator.
For more information about The Music Center’s Spotlight program, visit musiccenter.org/spotlight or follow @musiccenterspotlight on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok and @spotlightawards on X.
The Music Center’s 37th Annual Spotlight Semifinalists
|
HOME CITY |
FULL NAME |
PROGRAM NAME |
SCHOOL |
GRADE |
|
Agoura Hills |
Charles French |
Contemporary Instrumental |
Agoura High School |
12 |
|
Agoura Hills |
Jordan Klein |
Contemporary Instrumental |
Agoura High School |
12 |
|
Anaheim |
Brendan Knox |
Non-Classical Voice |
Orange County School of the Arts |
12 |
|
Bell Canyon |
Chase Teglas |
Classical Voice |
Chaminade College Preparatory High School |
12 |
|
Bellflower |
Erin Tardibuono |
Non-Classical Voice |
Orange County School of the Arts |
12 |
|
Beverly Hills |
Hyeongju An |
Classical Voice |
Idyllwild Arts Academy |
12 |
|
Burbank |
Jane Hasty |
Classical Voice |
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts |
11 |
|
Burbank |
Jane Hasty |
Non-Classical Voice |
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts |
11 |
|
Burbank |
Silas Schulz |
Non-Classical Voice |
John Burroughs High School |
12 |
|
Burbank |
Lusine Stepanyan |
Classical Voice |
Burbank High School |
11 |
|
Calabasas |
Riley Eichberg |
Non-Classical Voice |
Calabasas High School |
12 |
|
Calabasas |
Elie Samouhi |
Contemporary Instrumental |
Calabasas High School |
11 |
|
Corona |
Isabella Betancourt |
Non-Classical Voice |
Orange County School of the Arts |
12 |
|
Costa Mesa |
Ashwin Desai |
Contemporary Instrumental |
Orange County School of the Arts |
11 |
|
Costa Mesa |
Danica Hemmens |
Non-Classical Voice |
Coast High school |
12 |
|
Eastvale |
Erin Liao |
Classical Instrumental |
Eleanor Roosevelt High School |
11 |
|
Encino |
Julianna Hatton |
Dance |
The Archer School for Girls |
12 |
|
Fullerton |
Madison Becerra |
Classical Voice |
Orange County School of the Arts |
12 |
|
Fullerton |
David Lim |
Contemporary Instrumental |
BYU Independent Study |
11 |
|
Fullerton |
Kenny Song |
Classical Instrumental |
Orange County School of the Arts |
10 |
|
Fullerton |
Rachel Won |
Classical Instrumental |
Orange County School of the Arts |
11 |
|
Glendale |
Jasper Kugler |
Classical Instrumental |
Crescenta Valley High School |
12 |
|
Huntington Beach |
Liam Geoffroy |
Ballet |
Huntington Beach High School |
9 |
|
Huntington Beach |
Bianca Stratta |
Acting |
Huntington Beach High School |
11 |
|
Idyllwild-Pine Cove |
Louis Chen |
Classical Instrumental |
Idyllwild Arts Academy |
12 |
|
Idyllwild-Pine Cove |
Elijah Curtin-Adelman |
Acting |
Idyllwild Arts Academy |
12 |
|
Idyllwild-Pine Cove |
Adin Joseph |
Dance |
Idyllwild Arts Academy |
12 |
|
Irvine |
Minji Choi |
Classical Instrumental |
Northwood High School |
10 |
|
Irvine |
Kameron Couch |
Dance |
Orange County School of the Arts |
12 |
|
Irvine |
Diane Doberstein |
Ballet |
iLead Exploration |
11 |
|
Irvine |
Jonathan Doh |
Classical Instrumental |
Pacific Academy - Irvine |
10 |
|
Irvine |
Mia Frederick |
Ballet |
Cabrillo Point Academy |
11 |
|
Irvine |
Madeleine Lee |
Ballet |
Laurel Springs School |
12 |
|
Irvine |
Rubi Lee |
Classical Instrumental |
Pacific Academy - Irvine |
12 |
|
Irvine |
Michelle Lu |
Ballet |
Portola High School |
12 |
|
Irvine |
Logan Macy |
Dance |
Orange County School of the Arts |
10 |
|
Irvine |
Kaya Sparnicht |
Acting |
Orange County School of the Arts |
12 |
|
Irvine |
Kiera Sun |
Ballet |
Cabrillo Point Academy |
9 |
|
Irvine |
Kiera Sun |
Dance |
Cabrillo Point Academy |
9 |
|
Irvine |
Eiline Tai |
Classical Instrumental |
California Connections Academy |
11 |
|
La Cañada Flintridge |
Thomas Chung |
Classical Instrumental |
Crescenta Valley High School |
12 |
|
La Cañada Flintridge |
Lev Sakae Taira |
Classical Voice |
Laurel Springs School |
11 |
|
La Verne |
Evangeline Lien |
Classical Instrumental |
Claremont High School |
9 |
|
Ladera Ranch |
Hannah Gu |
Ballet |
Tesoro High School |
11 |
|
Laguna Beach |
Alexa Blanchard |
Dance |
Laguna Beach High School |
11 |
|
Laguna Beach |
Tessa Espinola |
Non-Classical Voice |
Orange County School of the Arts |
12 |
|
Laguna Beach |
Lavinia Watkins |
Classical Voice |
Orange County School of the Arts |
11 |
|
Lomita |
River Arviso |
Dance |
HArts Academy |
12 |
|
Los Alamitos |
Arron Myers |
Dance |
Los Alamitos High School |
11 |
|
Los Angeles |
Asher Bartfeld |
Classical Voice |
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts |
12 |
|
Los Angeles |
Christopher Bladon |
Contemporary Instrumental |
Agoura High School |
12 |
|
Los Angeles |
Delila Carlos |
Acting |
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts |
11 |
|
Los Angeles |
Matilda Luz Concha Pearson |
Acting |
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts |
11 |
|
Los Angeles |
Matilda Luz Concha Pearson |
Non-Classical Voice |
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts |
11 |
|
Los Angeles |
Noah Farag |
Contemporary Instrumental |
Hamilton High School |
12 |
|
Los Angeles |
Melanie Flores |
Acting |
Hamilton High School |
12 |
|
Los Angeles |
Allegra Frost |
Contemporary Instrumental |
Valley International Preparatory High School |
12 |
|
Los Angeles |
Jack Heath |
Acting |
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts |
11 |
|
Los Angeles |
Crystin Herring |
Acting |
Windward School |
12 |
|
Los Angeles |
Joshua Ho |
Classical Instrumental |
Palisades Charter High School |
12 |
|
Los Angeles |
Cole Kaller |
Acting |
Windward School |
12 |
|
Los Angeles |
Aria Kamei-Oser |
Ballet |
Palisades Charter High School - Virtual Academy |
11 |
|
Los Angeles |
Armen Kavcioglu |
Ballet |
North Hollywood High School |
9 |
|
Los Angeles |
James Lauter |
Acting |
Campbell Hall |
11 |
|
Los Angeles |
Hao Li |
Acting |
Sierra Canyon Upper School |
12 |
|
Los Angeles |
Clara Maranville |
Acting |
Marlborough School |
11 |
|
Los Angeles |
Micah MikoLevine |
Acting |
Westridge School Upper School |
12 |
|
Los Angeles |
Nathan Pak |
Classical Instrumental |
Taft High School |
11 |
|
Los Angeles |
Julian Pankowski |
Non-Classical Voice |
Van Nuys Senior High School |
12 |
|
Los Angeles |
Mateo Rodriguez |
Contemporary Instrumental |
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts |
10 |
|
Los Angeles |
Harlem Shepherd |
Non-Classical Voice |
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts |
10 |
|
Los Angeles |
Samuel Siskind |
Classical Voice |
Lindamood-Bell Academy |
12 |
|
Los Angeles |
Noah Steinman |
Contemporary Instrumental |
Hamilton High School |
11 |
|
Los Angeles |
Manos Vourgourakis |
Contemporary Instrumental |
Harvard-Westlake Upper School |
12 |
|
Mission Viejo |
Gracyn French |
Dance |
Mission Viejo High School |
10 |
|
Newport Beach |
Margaux DeAllen |
Ballet |
Mater Dei High School |
10 |
|
Newport Beach |
Everett Leigh |
Classical Instrumental |
Tarbut V'Torah Community Day School |
9 |
|
Newport Beach |
Lexie Shehab |
Non-Classical Voice |
Orange County School of the Arts |
10 |
|
North Hollywood |
Baz Felber |
Acting |
Ramon C. Cortines High School |
11 |
|
Orange |
Emmet Althoen |
Contemporary Instrumental |
Orange County School of the Arts |
9 |
|
Pacific Palisades |
Bianca Iker |
Classical Voice |
Pacifica Christian High School |
11 |
|
Pasadena |
Julia Kleindorfer |
Classical Instrumental |
Westridge School Upper School |
10 |
|
Pasadena |
Steinunn Liorsdottir |
Classical Voice |
Flintridge Preparatory |
12 |
|
Riverside |
Kayla McCarty |
Acting |
Ramona High School |
12 |
|
Riverside |
Luna Rodriguez |
Ballet |
Ramona High School |
12 |
|
Riverside |
Amayzee Ruiz |
Non-Classical Voice |
John W. North High School |
10 |
|
San Diego |
Emma Donnelly |
Dance |
The Bishop's School Will Parsons |
12 |
|
San Diego |
Zara Exconde |
Non-Classical Voice |
San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts |
12 |
|
San Diego |
Evonne Fangao |
Classical Voice |
The Cambridge School |
10 |
|
San Diego |
Michelle Shi |
Dance |
Canyon Crest Academy |
11 |
|
San Diego |
Olivia Xia |
Classical Voice |
Rancho Bernardo High School |
9 |
|
San Juan Capistrano |
Samuel Chung |
Contemporary Instrumental |
Orange County School of the Arts |
12 |
|
San Marino |
Emilia Bernstein |
Classical Voice |
San Marino High School |
11 |
|
Santa Clarita |
Brooklyn Covington |
Dance |
Valencia High School |
10 |
|
Santa Clarita |
Elina Ghosh |
Non-Classical Voice |
West Ranch High School |
10 |
|
Santa Clarita |
Ananya Joseph |
Dance |
Academy of the Canyons |
10 |
|
Santa Monica |
Charles Blanchard |
Classical Voice |
Santa Monica High School |
12 |
|
Simi Valley |
Troy Winkler |
Non-Classical Voice |
Grace Brethren |
11 |
|
Tarzana |
Anorah Permenter |
Acting |
Chaminade College Preparatory High School |
9 |
|
Temecula |
Lane Whitehurst |
Ballet |
Homeschooled |
11 |
|
Thousand Oaks |
Saoirse Sipes |
Contemporary Instrumental |
Thousand Oaks High School |
11 |
|
Toluca Lake |
Sofia Rile |
Dance |
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts |
10 |
|
Torrance |
Joaquin Garde |
Contemporary Instrumental |
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts |
12 |
|
Torrance |
Mai Ishiyama |
Ballet |
Excel High School |
10 |
|
Torrance |
Mai Ishiyama |
Dance |
Excel High School |
10 |
|
Tustin |
Hannah Cho |
Classical Instrumental |
Pacific Academy - Irvine |
12 |
|
Tustin |
Aimee Ernt |
Ballet |
Foothill High School |
11 |
|
Tustin |
Riley Ernt |
Ballet |
Foothill High School |
11 |
|
Tustin |
Riley Ernt |
Dance |
Foothill High School |
11 |
|
Upland |
Zaire Franklin |
Contemporary Instrumental |
California School of the Arts - San Gabriel Valley |
12 |
|
West Covina |
Allison Luo |
Acting |
West Covina High School |
11 |
|
Yorba Linda |
Afina Gosla |
Ballet |
Cabrillo Point Academy |
9 |
|
Yorba Linda |
Megan Reta |
Dance |
El Dorado High School |
11 |