High school students in Pasadena can now start applying for the 2016 Spotlight Awards, a multi-discipline arts scholarship and training program offered by The Music Center in Los Angeles for Southern California high school students.
Each year, the Spotlight program awards more than $100,000 in scholarships in acting, ballet, non-classical dance, classical voice, non-classical voice, classical instrumental, and jazz instrumental. Application is free to all high school students in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange and San Diego Counties.
Students who get into the program are given an opportunity to stretch themselves by learning about audition/interview skills, making great audition videos, exploring artistry, and developing self-confidence; all in a safe and nurturing environment.
By applying into the Spotlight Awards, students are eligible for participation in the Spotlight Academy which is a free day of performing arts workshops for students, parents and teachers at The Music Center. The Spotlight Academy happens on September 27th, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Students in the Spotlight program are also eligible to receive written feedback from the Music Center’s distinguished panel of judges, master classes with a world-renowned artist or artistic director, live audition and performance at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, cash awards of up to $5,000, a chance to bypass the preliminary round of YoungArts, a Certificate of Achievement and an award plaque for Grand Prize finalists.
YoungArts, or the National Young Arts Foundation, offers an intense one-week training in ten arts disciplines to a selected group of 800 students every year. YoungArts participants can win up to $10,000 in cash awards, and those who are in their senior year of high school also automatically become eligible for nomination as U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts, the nation’s highest honor for young artists.
To apply for the 2016 Spotlight Awards, students have to enter the Preliminary 1 or First Round Auditions which now be online video submissions through GETACCEPTD, and prepare for Preliminary 2 and Semifinal Rounds which will be held through live auditions.
Spotlight semifinalists and honorable mentions from the previous year will automatically bypass Preliminary 1 and advance to Preliminary 2 auditions.
The mission of The Music Center’s Spotlight program is to provide a supportive environment in which high school students can develop the skills needed to pursue their artistic dreams, with an emphasis on self-esteem, preparation and perseverance.
Whether or not students pursue a career onstage, offstage or something outside of the arts, Spotlight can help them explore their professional goals and increase their confidence.
Spotlight alumni are dancing with the world’s best dance companies, performing with top orchestras, jamming in the leading jazz clubs, singing in the leading opera houses, and starring on Broadway.
In addition, they are top executives behind the scenes in arts schools, institutions and businesses.
More information about the Spotlight Awards program, including rules on entering the different arts categories and the Spotlight Academy, are available on the Music Center website, www.musiccenter.org.
