CINCINNNATI, OH – The Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA) is proud to present the 2016 Overture Awards Finals Competition. The Overture Awards provides $4,000 each to six area high school students for education and training expenses, with eighteen finalists each winning $1,000. The program also provides a $2,500 Arts Educator Award for Excellence in Arts Instruction.
The Overture Awards Finals Competition and Awards Ceremony will be held on Saturday, February 27, 2016 at 1:00 PM at the Aronoff Center’s Jarson-Kaplan Theater. Winners will be announced immediately following the competition.
This year, 493 students were nominated by their schools to compete in one of six artistic disciplines: Creative Writing, Dance, Instrumental Music, Theater, Visual Art, and Vocal Music. The Overture Awards was developed to recognize, encourage, and reward excellence in the arts among Tri-state students in grades 9-12. It also provides students an opportunity to share their talents and interests among their peers in a supportive environment outside of their individual schools. There are three levels of competition: Regional, Semi-Final, and Final.
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. Twenty-four finalists (four in each discipline) will compete in the Finals Competition at the Aronoff Center’s Jarson-Kaplan Theater on February 27.
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
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
Arts Educator Award For Excellence in Arts Instruction
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. Nominations are made by submitting an on-line application with a three-minute video about why the nominee is an exemplary arts educator.
The winner of the 2016 award will receive $2,500, and two finalists will receive $500 each. The recipients of the Arts Educator Award may utilize the monetary award to strengthen their program or practice, e.g. artist fee for guest lecturer or master class, purchase of equipment, professional learning opportunity, such as for tuition assistance for either the educator or for students to study with the recipient or another professional.
Arts Educator Award Finalists
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
Arts Educator Award Honorable Mentions
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
CALENDAR INFORMATION
WHAT: 2016 Overture Awards – Finals Competition and Awards Ceremony
WHERE: Aronoff Center – Jarson-Kaplan Theater
WHEN: Saturday, February 27, 2016 – 1:00 PM
TICKETS: $15 • $10
INFO: The 2016 Overture Awards scholarship competition provides $4,000 each to six area high school students for education and training expenses, with eighteen finalists each winning $1,000. Students compete in one of six artistic disciplines: Creative Writing, Dance, Instrumental Music, Theater, Visual Art, and Vocal Music. The program also provides a $2,500 Arts Educator Award for Excellence in Arts Instruction. The Overture Awards was developed to recognize, encourage, and reward excellence in the arts among Tri-state students in grades 9-12.
TICKET INFORMATION – on sale now
- www.CincinnatiArts.org
- (513) 621-ARTS [2787]
- Aronoff Center Ticket Office
CINCINNATI ARTS ASSOCIATION
Founded in 1992, the Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA) is a not-for-profit organization that oversees the programming and management of two of the Tri-state’s finest performing arts venues – the Aronoff Center for the Arts and Music Hall – and is dedicated to supporting performing and visual arts. Each year, CAA presents a diverse schedule of events; serves upwards of 600,000 people in its venues; features the work of talented local, regional, and national artists in the Weston Art Gallery (located in the Aronoff Center); and supports the work of more than one dozen resident companies. Since the inception of its acclaimed arts education programs in 1995, CAA has reached nearly 1.4 million students.
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