Michael Feinstein's Great American Songbook Foundation Announces 2017 National Finalists
By: BWW News Desk May. 30, 2017
They rank among the top high school-age vocalists in the nation, hailing from Los Angeles, Portland, Houston, Miami, New York City, Detroit, St. Louis and right here in central Indiana. For one week this summer, they will experience a rigorous, exciting, expert-led introduction to the world of professional performing arts.
Founded by five-time Grammy nominee Michael Feinstein and now in its eighth year, the Great American Songbook Foundation's annual Songbook Academy is the only high school intensive in the United States focused on the timeless pop, jazz, Broadway and Hollywood standards that have come to be known as the Great American Songbook. The 2017 Academy, sponsored nationally by the Central Indiana Community Foundation's Efroymson Family Fund, is scheduled July 15-22 at the Songbook Foundation's headquarters, the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel.
To apply, hundreds of young hopefuls submit audition videos for review by a panel of judges, who provide detailed personal feedback to every applicant. Only 40 students nationwide are selected each year to attend the Academy, a life-changing opportunity to experience workshops, master classes and mentoring from music industry professionals and respected university educators. Along with Feinstein, past mentors have included Broadway stars Laura Osnes and Jarrod Spector, Grammy-nominated jazz singer Jane Monheit and the Manhattan Transfer's Cheryl Bentyne and Janis Siegel.
Participants are able to network with peers and pros, perform before live audiences and join the Songbook Academy Alumni Network to stay connected and informed about college programs, auditions and performance opportunities. The week culminates in the July 22 Songbook Academy Finals, a performance and competition presented by the Center for the Performing Arts in its acoustically superior 1,600-seat Palladium concert hall. Tickets go on sale Thursday, June 1, at (317) 843-3800 or TheCenterPresents.org.
Awards are presented for excellence in several categories, and top performers are invited to represent the Songbook Foundation and sing with Michael Feinstein at such venues as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and the nation's top cabaret clubs. One alumna of the program is Maddie Baillio of League City, Texas, who claimed the 2014 Songbook Youth Ambassador title. Among other career steps since then, she appeared on national television last year as Tracy Turnblad in NBC's Hairspray Live! broadcast.
The 2017 finalists are:
Joie Bianco, Staten Island, NY
Talent Unlimited High School, NYC
Taylor Bickett, Carmel, IN
Carmel High School
Yarden Borshevsky-Barr, Friendswood, TX
Friendswood High School
Logan Branch, East Greenwich, RI
East Greenwich High School
Lucy Breedlove, Vienna, VA
James Madison High School
Haley Burgh, Greenwood, IN
Center Grove High School
Weston Clark, Zionsville, IN
Park Tudor High School, Indianapolis
Kayla Daubenspeck, Lebanon, IN
Lebanon High School
Morgan Demetre, Portland, OR
Cleveland High School
Elizabeth DeVoto, St. Louis, MO
Nerinx Hall High School
Hayden Elefante, Zionsville, IN
Zionsville Community High School
Matt Engelken, Dubuque, IA
Hempstead High School
Emily Estep, Fresno, CA
University High School
Mathew Fedorek, Finleyville, PA
Lincoln Parks Performing Arts Charter School, Midland, PA
Caleb Freeman, Webb City, MO
Webb City High School
Sofia Gonzalez, San Gabriel, CA
Alverno High School
Cynthia Kauffman, Zionsville, IN
Zionsville Community High School
Cinderella Ksebati, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI
Grosse Pointe South High School
Tara Lacy, Carmel, IN
Carmel High School
Sara Lewandowski, Sylvania, OH
Sylvania Northview High School
Ella Marcus, New York, NY
Fiorello LaGuardia High School
Alec Melosini, Trabuco Canyon, CA
Santa Margarita Catholic High School
Jonathan Mitzenmacher, Miami, FL
Coral Reef Senior High School
Anja Reese, Carmel, IN
Carmel High School
Finnian Sagal, La Cañada Flintridge, CA
La Cañada High School
JarEd Sayers, Lexington, KY
Lafayette Senior High School
Adriana Scalice, Penfield, NY
Penfield High School
Madeline Seitles, East Moriches, NY
Westhampton Beach High School
Isabella Shiff, Glendale, CA
Lycee International de Los Angeles
Joseph Silva, Reseda, CA
Notre Dame High School
Wilson Smith, Greenwood, IN
Center Grove High School
Sami Staitman, Woodland Hills, CA
Calabasas High School
Lexi Staubi, Darien, CT
Darien High School
Zoë Stewart, Mendon, MA
Home-schooled
Lydia Talamante, Herndon, VA
Oakton High School
Audrey Trullinger, Ambler, PA
Mount Saint Joseph Academy
Emily Tschirhart, Ann Arbor, MI
Community High School
Grace Tucker, Zionsville, IN
Zionsville Community High School
George Walker, Decatur, IL
Eisenhower High School
Cole Winston, Hartland, WI
Arrowhead High School
The mission of the Great American Songbook Foundation, founded by five-time Grammy nominee Michael Feinstein, is to inspire and educate by celebrating the timeless songs of pop, jazz, Broadway and Hollywood. The Foundation is committed to preserving and elevating this rich legacy by curating physical artifacts of its creators, performers and publishers; offering programs for the public and research opportunities for scholars, historians and performers; providing educational opportunities and multidisciplinary curricula for student musicians; overseeing the Songbook Hall of Fame; and operating a multimedia gallery for public exhibition of its collections. More information is available at www.TheSongbook.org.
Pictured: Finalists perform in the 2016 Songbook Academy closing concert at the Palladium.
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