2016 Overture Awards Winners Announced!

The Cincinnati Arts Association is pleased to announce the winners of its Overture Awards Competition, held on Saturday, February 27, 2016 at the Aronoff Center's Jarson-Kaplan Theater, and the winner of its new Arts Educator Award for Excellence in Arts Instruction. The competition awarded $4,000 to six area students for education and training, with 18 runners-up each winning $1,000, while the Arts Educator Award winner received $2,500 and two finalists were awarded $500 each.

The Overture Awards recognizes, encourages and rewards excellence in the arts among Tri-state students in grades 9-12 and is the area's largest solo arts competition. Students are nominated by their schools and/or private studios to compete in one of six disciplines: Creative Writing, Dance, Instrumental Music, Theater, Visual Art, and Vocal Music. There are three levels of competition: Regional, Semi-Final, and Final.

The Arts Educator Award promotes and rewards excellence in arts instruction throughout Greater Cincinnati. An educator who teaches any of the following arts disciplines may be nominated: Creative Writing, Dance, Instrumental Music, Theater, Visual Art, and Vocal Music. They can be a high school arts specialist, teaching artist working with high school students, or an arts professional or educator providing private lessons or instruction. Nominations for the award must come from students between the ages of 14-19 who are currently enrolled in high school. The Arts Educator Award finalists and winner are selected by a panel of judges who are arts professionals.

The Arts Educator Award was first introduced during the 2006-07 Season as the "Theater Educator Award" and was originally created by Jackie Demaline, former Cincinnati Enquirer theatre critic and arts reporter, as one of the first initiatives of the Enquirer's Acclaim Awards for Excellence in Cincinnati Theatre. In recent years, the Theatre Educator Award was hosted and presented by the League of Cincinnati Theaters at its annual theatre award ceremony. With its move to the Cincinnati Arts Association's Overture Awards program, the Theatre Educator Award has broadened its scope to become the Arts Educator Award.

2016 Overture Awards Winners

CREATIVE WRITING: Jessica Sommerville - William Mason High School, grade 11

HOMETOWN: Mason, OH - Jessica is the Online Editor of her school newspaper and a member of its literary magazine. Outside of school, she is an Executive Editor for the international literary magazine Polyphony HS and one day hopes to inspire others as its writers have inspired her. Jessica has a yen for storytelling and will pursue journalism or publishing after college.

DANCE: Mary Lyn Moore - School for Creative and Performing Arts / Just Off Broadway, grade 12

HOMETOWN: New Richmond, OH - Mary Lyn has been dancing since age three. She is a member of the nationally-recognized dance team from Just Off Broadway and has won national recognition with her lyrical solos. She has been the principal dancer in a number of school performances. Mary Lyn plans to study dance and would like to thank her family and teachers for their support.

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC: Lindsey Wong - Sycamore High School, grade 9

HOMETOWN: Blue Ash, OH - Lindsey has collected a myriad of national and international accolades and performance experience with various orchestras. Currently, she is the First Chair flute at CSYO. Diagnosed with Dyslexia at a young age, she uses music to express emotion and experiences that become otherwise muddled when put into words. Lindsey believes strongly in the universality of music and it is her aspiration to share it to the best of her abilities.

THEATER: Erin Niebuhr - St. Ursula Academy, grade 12

HOMETOWN: Anderson Township, OH - Erin was lucky to go to a grade school where her music teacher, Adam Gardner, produced musicals. Her love for theater started then. The CCM Preparatory Program and her voice teacher Lisa Ericksen helped develop the skills she needed. Her high school has been a great place to practice those skills. Thanks to her training and support of those around her, she has been accepted into her dream program at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music.

VISUAL ART: Samuel Smith - Loveland High School, grade 10

HOMETOWN: Loveland, OH - For as long as he can remember, Samuel has been fascinated by visual art and the stories an image can tell. As he has grown, his interest for imagery and the art of storytelling in the form of filmmaking also expanded. He sees the world as a frame and each frame a story to tell. In his attempts to capture these narratives through images, he often discovers bits of himself present in each composition.

VOCAL MUSIC: Logan Wagner - Dixie Heights High School / Karl Resnik Studio, grade 12

HOMETOWN: Villa Hills, KY - Logan was a finalist in the 2015 Overture Awards Competition, received 2nd place at the Indiana University Schmidt Youth Vocal Competition, 3rd place at the Miami University Schmidt Youth Vocal Competition, and received an Honorable Mention from the National Young Arts Association in 2015. Next year, Logan plans on pursuing a Bachelor of Music Degree in Vocal Performance.

2016 Arts educator award Winner

Karl Resnik, The Musical Arts Center

Discipline: Vocal Music

Nominated by James Rootring

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The Overture Awards Regional Competitions were held on January 9 at the Aronoff Center for the Arts, Immanuel United Methodist Church (Lakeside Park, KY), Northern Kentucky University, and the University of Cincinnati - College-Conservatory of Music. The top 20 percent of competitors in each discipline advanced to the Semi-Finals, which were held at the Aronoff Center on January 29-30.

Now in its 20th year, The Overture Awards was launched in 1996 by the Cinergy Foundation (now Duke Energy) and Leadership Cincinnati (a program of the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce). The Overture Awards is funded and administered by the Cincinnati Arts Association, which operates and manages the Aronoff Center and Music Hall. The Overture Awards also relies on hundreds of volunteers from the community who help raise funds, adjudicate and manage the competitions, and nurture the program.

The Overture Awards are endowed by The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation.

Overture Awards Presenting Sponsors: TriHealth; The Eleanora C.U. Alms Trust, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee; Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc.

Scholarship Sponsors: Arthur Murray - Cincinnati, Doreen Beatrice, Douglas Beal, Bonita Brockert, Cincinnati Ballroom Company, Jozsef Parragh, Pebble Creek Group, Phoenix Rising Ballroom, Summerfair Cincinnati, Josh Tilford, Western & Southern Financial Fund, The William O. Purdy, Jr. Foundation

Competition Sponsors: Immanuel United Methodist Church (Lakeside Park, KY), Northern Kentucky University, University of Cincinnati - College-Conservatory of Music

Printing Sponsor: Crest Graphics

The 2016 Overture Awards Finalists

Winners listed in bold.

CREATIVE WRITING

· Presley Hargis - grade 11, Conner High School

· Jaye Johnson - grade 12, Wyoming High School

· Olivia Short - grade 11, Mother of Mercy High School

• Jessica Sommerville - grade 11, William Mason High School

DANCE

· Annika Hsi - grade 9, Walnut Hills High School / Northern Cincinnati Youth Ballet

· Mary Lyn Moore - grade 12, School for Creative & Performing Arts / Just Off Broadway

· Helga Paris-Morales - grade 10, School for Creative & Performing Arts / CCM Preparatory

· Drake Phouasavanh - grade 10, Conner High School

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

· Isabella Geis - grade 12, Walnut Hills High School

· Jocelyn Kang - grade 11, William Mason High School

· Sarah Tan - grade 10, Indian Hill High School

· Lindsey Wong - grade 9, Sycamore High School

THEATER

· Melissa Campbell - grade 12, McCready Voice Studio / Wyoming High School

· Sam Johnson - grade 12, Boone County High School

· Cameron Nalley - grade 11, School for Creative & Performing Arts

· Erin Niebuhr - grade 12, St. Ursula Academy

VISUAL ART

· Samantha Goldizen - grade 12, Mother of Mercy High School

· Lauren Questell - grade 12, Indian Hill High School

· Nicholas Robles - grade 12, Wyoming High School

· Samuel Smith - grade 10, Loveland High School

VOCAL MUSIC

· Anna Donnelly - grade 12, Walnut Hills High School

· Abigail O'Rourke - grade 12, Alison Acord / Walnut Hills High School

· James Rootring - grade 12, Karl Resnik Studio / Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy

· Logan Wagner - grade 12, Dixie Heights High School

Images of the Overture Awards competition, winners, or finalists available upon request.

2016 Arts educator award Finalists

Winner listed in bold.

Joe Craig, Beechwood High School

Discipline: Instrumental Music

Nominated by Natalie Sweasy

Gabriel Pegis, private teacher

Discipline: Instrumental Music

Nominated by Matthew Adams

Karl Resnik, The Musical Arts Center

Discipline: Vocal Music

Nominated by James Rootring

2016 Arts educator award honorable mention

Lincoln Chapman, The Musical Arts Center

Discipline: Vocal Music

Nominated by Anna Donnelly

Paul McCready, McCready Voice Studio, Cincinnati Music Academy

Discipline: Vocal Music

Nominated by Melissa Campbell

Jackson & Benita Tse-Leung, Leung Studios

Discipline: Instrumental Music

Nominated by Rebecca Shu

Melody Wallace, Melody Wallace Voice Studio

Discipline: Vocal Music

Nominated by DJ Cleavinger

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