Finalists Selected for National Songbook Academy

From hundreds of applicants nationwide, 40 high school students from 14 states have been selected to participate in this year’s Songbook Academy®, aweeklong summer intensive that immerses young performers in America’s musical heritage and helps them develop as artists under the guidance of Broadway stars and other entertainment professionals and music educators. 

Now in its 15th year, the Songbook Academy is the flagship education initiative of the Great American Songbook Foundation and its founder, performer and preservationist Michael Feinstein. Songbook Academy 2024 will take place July 13-20 at the Foundation’s headquarters, the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel.

The annual program includes workshops, masterclasses and performance opportunities that help participants hone their vocal and stage skills with an emphasis on song interpretation, while building friendships and professional connections that last a lifetime. Alumni from previous years include Ava Nicole Frances (2020-22), who recently appeared on American Idol; Cate Hayman (2015), who recently closed her run on the Broadway National Tour of Hadestown; Adriana Scalice (2017), currently on the Broadway National Tour (Boleyn Company) of SIX: The Musical; Audrey Trullinger (2017), who appeared in feature film Prom Dates on Hulu; Alexandria Reese (2020), who appeared in the latest season of Law & Order SVU; and Nina White (2016), who closed Kimberly Akimbo on Broadway and has joined the cast for the pre-Broadway premiere of The Queen of Versailles alongside Kristin Chenoweth.

Songbook Academy Week includes public performance events at the Center’s Palladium concert hall for a live audience and livestream viewers worldwide, offering opportunities to see tomorrow’s stars just as their careers begin to blossom. Two events are already on sale:

· Songbook Showcase – 7 p.m. Thursday, July 18
Each of the 40 national finalists will take a turn in the spotlight to perform a selected song. Traditionally a daytime event, the Songbook Showcase has shifted to a more accessible evening time. This year’s event also will feature special solo performances by Feinstein and guest mentor Nicole Zuraitis, a New York-based jazz singer-songwriter, pianist, arranger and bandleader whose career highlights have included winning the prestigious 2021 American Traditions Vocal Competition Gold Medal, as well as the 2024 GRAMMY® Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album with her sixth release, How Love Begins.

· Songbook Academy in Concert – 7 p.m. Saturday, July 20
Feinstein will emcee as all 40 singers perform in choral numbers, small group ensembles and featured solos, celebrating their growth over the week and paying tribute to iconic composers and lyricists from George Gershwin to Duke Ellington.

Showcase ticket purchases are pay-what-you-can with a $5 minimum for on-site viewers and no minimum for the livestream. For the final concert, on-site tickets start at just $25, and the livestream option is pay-what-you-can with no minimum. Tickets are on sale now at TheSongbook.org, by phone at (317) 843-3800 or toll-free at (877) 909-2787.

All applicants to the Songbook Academy receive personalized feedback from the screening panel. The 2024 Songbook Academy finalists were selected by a panel featuring Broadway stars Max Chernin (recently in the award-winning Broadway revival of Parade) and Ali Ewoldt (Christine Daaé in Broadway’s The Phantom of the Opera); NYC-based music director, musician, orchestrator and arranger Steven Cuevas; and university vocal professors Sonia Santiago (Palm Beach Atlantic University) and Dr. Kathleen Hacker (University of Indianapolis).

The Songbook Academy receives generous support from the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation and Mentor Champions to expand program awareness and provide financial assistance to students who request it. The Songbook Academy in Concert performance is part of the Center for the Performing Arts’ 2024-2025 Center PresentsSeason, presented in partnership with Allied Solutions, and its Hoosier Village & The Barrington of Carmel Songbook Series. The Public Masterclass, for which details are pending, is generously sponsored by Bob and Rose Popovich. Additional support comes from the City of Carmel.

Activities are made possible in part by Noblesville Creates, a regional partner, Indiana Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

2024 Songbook Academy Top 40 Finalists

From hundreds of video auditions from students in 22 states, the screening panel selected these 40 finalists to attend this year’s Songbook Academy:

Helena Badiali, Doylestown, PA

Nat Barker, Shreveport, LA

Maddie Begin, Wellington, FL

Kaitlyn Blair, Anderson, SC

Izzy Casciani, Zionsville, IN

Emily Chavez, Los Angeles, CA

Riley Chaye-Shin, Mill Valley, CA

April Cho, Los Angeles, CA

Sadie Cohen, Carmel, IN

Elle Cohen, Exeter, NH

Emmaline Colvin, Carmel, IN

Keegan Connor, Westfield, IN

Jane Delahoussaye, Sugar Land, TX

Eliza Griffey, Sewanee, TN

Isaiah Henderson, Carmel, IN

Colin Ho, Los Angeles, CA

Mia Kadar, Dublin, OH

Zac Kowal, Palmetto Bay, FL

Ava Lee, Avon, IN

Jackson Manning, Doylestown, PA

Ethan Mathias, Ada, MI

Clara McGough, Bethel Park, PA

Addie McMillan, Noblesville, IN

Violet Miles, Sugar Land, TX

Kate Mincieli, Doylestown, PA

Jenna Montgomery, Richmond, TX

Madilyn Montgomery, Herriman, UT

Adrienne Nicastro, Huntingdon Valley, PA

Sophia O’Toole, Medfield, MA

Dilan Patton, Los Angeles, CA

Cooper Peters, Martinsville, IN

Craig Reynolds II, Lebanon, IN

Liris Robles, Alameda, CA

William Daniel Russell, Westwood, MA

Phoebe Sidebottom, Zionsville, IN

Anna Sparrow, Danville, KY

Tyler Steffen, Madisonville, LA

Kellyssa Rose Vincent, Wellington, FL

Jacob Vincent Volker, Franklin, TN

Journee Woodley, Westfield, IN

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