[CINCINNATI, OH] – The Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA) is proud to present the 2025 Overture Awards Finals Competition. The Overture Awards provides $3,000 to six area high school students for education and training expenses, with eighteen finalists each winning $1,000. The program also includes and Arts Educator Award for Excellence in Arts Instruction totaling $1,000.
Tickets are on sale now at www.CincinnatiArts.org, (513) 621-ARTS [2787], and the Aronoff Center Ticket Office.
The Overture Awards Finals Competition and Awards Ceremony will be held on Saturday, March 15, 2025 at 1:00 PM at the Aronoff Center’s Jarson-Kaplan Theater. Winners will be announced immediately following the competition. The Visual Art Finalists Exhibition will be showcased in the Aronoff Center’s Center Stage Room (adjacent to the Weston Art Gallery on 7th Street) from Tuesday, March 10 – Sunday, March 23, 2025.
This year, 237 students applied 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 virtually in January 2025. The top twenty-five percent of competitors in each discipline advanced to the Semi-Finals, which were held at the Aronoff Center on February 12-15. Twenty-four finalists will compete in the Finals Competition at the Aronoff Center’s Jarson-Kaplan Theater on March 15.
Now in its 29th year, The Overture Awards was launched in 1996 by the Cinergy Foundation (now Duke Energy) and Leadership Cincinnati (a program of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber). 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, manage the competitions, and nurture the program.
The Overture Awards are endowed by The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation.
THANK YOU to the following generous supporters of Dancing for the Stars and The Overture Awards:
Accent on Cincinnati, The Alleen Company, Scott Allgyer, Arthur Murray – Cincinnati, Arthur Murray – West Chester, Douglas Beal, Doreen Beatrice, James Branham, Bonita Brockert, Sebastian Castillo, Dance Manor, DelightMore, eat well celebrations & feasts, Maura Garuccio, Heidelberg Distributing Company, Jeff Thomas Catering, Alex Johns, Dr. Hali Jungers, Dr. Magdalena Kerschner, Jeremy Mainous, Moerlein Lager House, Newport Aquarium, Party Source, Pepsi, Philip Bortz Jewelers, Prime Cincinnati, Primo Italian Steakhouse, Punky’s Pixels, Bret Schneider, Deb Schubert, Britton Spitler, Street City Pub, Studio 900, Zack Thornton, Josh Tilford, Rostislav Toporski, Melissa Vaughn
Chris O’Brien & Janeen Coyle (former hosts of “Married with Microphones,” 103.5 WGRR-FM), JD Hughes (DJ, 103.5 WGRR-FM)
Overture Scholarship Sponsors: The Eleanora C.U. Alms Trust, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee; Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc.; Otto M. Budig Family Foundation; Summerfair Cincinnati; TriHealth
Printing Sponsor: Harlan Graphics
The 2025 Overture Awards Finalists
CREATIVE WRITING
- Evelyn Jeong, grade 9, Talawanda High School
- Abbey Mader, grade 11, Saint Ursula Academy
- Jai Tate, grade 11, Ohio Connections Academy
- Asher Wesolowski, grade 10, School for Creative and Performing Arts
DANCE
- Nora Doyle, grade 10, School For Creative and Performing Arts/Just Off Broadway
- Abigail Riester, grade 12, Turpin High School/College Conservatory of Music- Prep Ballet Department and Planet Dance
- Maanasa Yarlagadda, grade 12, Sycamore High School
- Audrey Zuziak, grade 12, Dixie Heights High School/Strive Dance Collective
INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
- Beckett Cerón, grade 10, Seven Hills School/Studies with Jeremy Collins
- Vivian Chang, grade 12, William Mason High School/Hong Cheng Violin Studio
- Sonya Moomaw, grade 9, School for Creative and Performing Arts/Studies with Dr. Sarah Kim
- Angela Tang, grade 10, William Mason High School/ Studies with Joel Smirnoff
THEATER
- Jake Hagerty, grade 11, Highlands High School
- Jai’Den Pritchett, grade 10, Sycamore High School/Musical Arts Center
- Clarissa Ramirez, grade 12, Sycamore High School
- Natalie Schmall, grade 10, Ursuline Academy
VISUAL ART
- Allison Droege, grade 12, William Mason High School
- Nathan Knoll, grade 12, Elder High School
- Faith Ogenyi, grade 12, Lakota East High School
- Andrew Sichak, grade 12, Loveland High School
VOCAL MUSIC
- Eden Bee, grade 12, Turpin High School/Studies with Xan Jeffery
- Ishanvi Karthikeyan, grade 12, Lakota West High School/Studies with Malathy Vijay
- Devi Kool, grade 10, Wyoming High School/Studies with Stacey Sands
- William Wittekind, grade 11, Saint Xavier High School/Studies with Musical Arts Center
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 700,000 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 more than two million students and adults.
CAA is proud to be a member of Association of Performing Arts Presenters, Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, Greater Cincinnati Alliance for Arts Education, Cincinnati USA Convention & Visitors Bureau, Greater Cincinnati Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky African American Chamber of Commerce, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce.
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