Tag Archives: Overture Awards

CAA ANNOUNCES
2024 OVERTURE AWARD WINNERS
$38,000 Awarded for Excellence in the Arts
Arts Educator Award Winners Also Announced

[CINCINNATI, OH] – The Cincinnati Arts Association is pleased to announce the winners of its Overture Awards Competition, held on Saturday, March 16, 2024 at the Aronoff Center’s Jarson-Kaplan Theater, and the winners of its Arts Educator Award for Excellence in Arts Instruction. The competition awarded $3,000 to six area students for education and training, $1,000 each to the 18 runners-up, and $1,000 each to two Arts Educator Award winners.

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. A nominee may be a high school arts specialist, teaching artist working with high school students, or an arts professional or educator providing private lessons or instruction. Students between the ages of 14-19 who are currently enrolled in high school submit nominations for their favorite educators. A panel of arts professionals select the Arts Educator Award finalists and winners from the nominations.

The Overture Awards Regional Competitions were held virtually in January 2024. The top twenty-five percent of competitors in each discipline advanced to the Semi-Finals, which were held at the Aronoff Center from February 1-3.

Now in its twenty-eighth 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 and relies on hundreds of volunteers from the community who help raise funds, adjudicate, manage the competitions, and nurture the program.

2024 Overture Award Winners

CREATIVE WRITING: Hailey Hartman, grade 12, William Mason High School
HOMETOWN: Mason, OH – Hailey has been scribbling stories and poems for as long as she could hold a pencil. Her writing has won her six awards from the Scholastic Art and Writing Competition. Outside of poetry, she channels her love of words into public speaking and is the President of her school’s Model UN team.

DANCE: Isabella Shearer, grade 12, School for Creative and Performing Arts / Just Off Broadway
HOMETOWN: Mt. Washington, OH – Isabella started her artistic journey at age nine, under the direction of Daryl Bjoza and Sara Swinehart at the School for Creative and Performing Arts. She has performed numerous lead roles at SCPA. Her dream is to pursue a BFA degree in college and share her talents with the world.

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC: Christy Kim, grade 12, William Mason High School
HOMETOWN: Mason, OH – Christy has been playing the violin since the age of six and now plans to pursue music professionally. She has won top prizes in numerous competitions, most recently the 2023 Sejong Music Competition, the 2023 Matinee Musicale Scholarship Competition, and the 2023-24 Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition. Christy has been featured on National Public Radio’s From The Top radio show with host Peter Dugan.

THEATER: Natalie Hudepohl, grade 12, Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy / The Musical Arts Center / Cincinnati Music Academy
HOMETOWN: Montgomery, OH – Natalie’s favorite roles include Portia in Something Rotten, Evie in Disney’s Descendants, Annie in Annie, and Molly Aster in Peter and the Starcatcher. For four years, Natalie was in the Young Artist Preparatory Program for young opera singers. She was an Overture Awards Semi-Finalist in Vocal Music in 2021. Natalie plans to attend the Honors College at Clemson University and major in Nursing.

VISUAL ART: Ellen Zhang, grade 12, William Mason High School
HOMETOWN: Mason, OH – Ellen has enjoyed creating art for over six years in many different media, including painting and sculpture. As an artist, she received a perfect score on the AP 2-D Art and Design Portfolio and a Gold Key on the Scholastics Art Portfolio. Ellen’s dream is to be an installation artist. Outside of art, Ellen enjoys Chinese traditional dance, calligraphy, and reading.

VOCAL MUSIC: Ella Clark, grade 12, Dixie Heights High School / Talia Zoll Studio of Music
HOMETOWN: Independence, KY – Ella recently placed first in the regional Schmidt Vocal Competition and third in the 2023 Matinee Musicale competition and is a two-time Overture Awards finalist. She loves participating in her school’s musicals, the May Festival Youth Chorus, and Dixie’s chamber choir. Ella hopes to double major in music education and vocal performance. She would like to thank her voice teacher, Talia, for the support and guidance throughout the years.

2024 ARTS EDUCATOR AWARD WINNERS

Lincoln Chapman, Musical Arts Center (posthumous winner)
Discipline: Vocal Music
Nominated by Sabine Huhn and Alice Pooley

John Ingram, Private Instructor
Discipline: Instrumental Music
Nominated by John Paul Shannon

---

The Cincinnati Arts Association is supported [in part] by the Ohio Arts Council,
which receives support from the State of Ohio, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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

Overture Scholarship Sponsors:  Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc.; Otto M. Budig Family Foundation; Punky’s Pixels; Summerfair Cincinnati; TriHealth

Printing Sponsor:  Harlan Graphics

THANK YOU to the following generous supporters of Dancing for the Stars and The Overture Awards:
A Catered Affair, Accent on Cincinnati, Arthur Murray – Cincinnati, Amanda Barraza, Douglas Beal, Bonita Brockert, Chris O’Brien & Janeen Coyle, Lane Glick, Heidelberg Distributing Company, JD Hughes, David Kapor, Jon Lawhead, Jeremy Mainous, Frank Marzullo, Metropolitan Club, Diana Nguyen, Amanda Orlando, Morgan Angelique Owens, Tom Parker, Party Source, Pepsi, Prime Cincinnati, Primo Italian Steakhouse, Punky’s Pixel’s, Erin Rolfes, Skyline, Litsa Spanos, Britton Spitler (as Brock Leah Spears), Andrea Stefano, Street City Pub, That’s So Sweet, Josh Tilford, Rostislav Toporski, Melissa Vaughn, Vonderhaar’s Catering.

---

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, Visit Cincinnati (formerly 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 the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce. 

# # #

$38,000 Awarded for Excellence in the Arts

Arts Educator Award Winners Also Announced

CINCINNATI, OH – The Cincinnati Arts Association is pleased to announce the winners of its Overture Awards Competition, held on Saturday, March 12, 2022 at the Aronoff Center’s Jarson-Kaplan Theater, and the winner of its Arts Educator Award for Excellence in Arts Instruction. The competition awarded $3,000 to six area students for education and training, $1,000 each to the 18 runners-up, and $1,000 each to two Arts Educator Award winners.

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 winners are selected by a panel of judges who are arts professionals.

2022 OVERTURE AWARDS WINNERS

CREATIVE WRITING: Eliza O’Keefe, grade 11, Walnut Hills High School
HOMETOWN: Cincinnati, OH – Eliza is a junior at Walnut Hills High School. Her work has been recognized by YoungArts and the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. She is an editor at Polyphony Lit and has attended the Sewanee Young Writers’ Conference.

DANCE: Karley Burdick, grade 12, West Clermont High School / Studies with Just Off Broadway 
HOMETOWN: Batavia, OH – Karley is a member of Just Off Broadway’s national award-winning convention and competition team. She has received numerous competition awards and scholarships, and also teaches. While at the School for Creative and Performing Arts, she performed lead roles and solos in numerous productions, including The Nutcracker and Alice in Wonderland. Karley intends to pursue a BFA in dance.

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC: Ari Webb, grade 11, Wyoming High School / Studies with Alan Rafferty
HOMETOWN: Cincinnati, OH – Ari is a 16-year-old Venezuelan-American cellist. In 2021, he won the State of Ohio Buckeye Auditions and was selected to perform in the NPR radio show From the Top in a performance with artists Tessa Lark and Peter Dugan. Ari is a winner of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition and will perform with the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra in the Spring of 2022.

THEATER: Payton Hines, grade 12, Sycamore High School / Studies with Karl Resnik
HOMETOWN: Cincinnati, OH – Payton is a senior at Sycamore High School. For her final season, she will play Elle Woods in Legally Blonde: The Musical this April. Outside of school, she trains with Lachey Arts, Karl Resnik, and CCM’s Musical Theatre Intensive (MTI). Payton plans to get her BFA in Musical Theatre. She is incredibly thankful for her Cincinnati arts community, her family, Lea and Drew Lachey, Mr. Whapham, and Karl Resnik.

VISUAL ART: Emma Wang, grade 12, Ursuline Academy
HOMETOWN: Mason, OH – Emma has had a passion for art ever since she could hold a pencil. She specializes in sculpture and fashion, although her favorite part about being an artist is experimenting with a broad range of art forms. Her other hobbies include playing the violin and Chinese violin and long-distance running.

VOCAL MUSIC: Ella Vaughn, grade 11, Walnut Hills High School / Studies with Musical Arts Center
HOMETOWN: Cincinnati, OH – Ella’s earliest memories include singing and performing. She has a passion for music, participates in musical theater at her school, studies voice with Karl Resnik at the Musical Arts Center, and is in the Young Artist Preparatory Program for opera training. She loves to sing and plans to study music in college, majoring in vocal performance.

2022 ARTS EDUCATOR AWARD WINNERS

Beth LeBlanc, Sycamore High School
Discipline: Creative Writing
Nominated by Deeya Prakash

Tricia Sundbeck, College Conservatory of Music – Dance Prep (UC)
Discipline: Dance
Nominated by Vivi Guemez

The Overture Awards Regional Competitions were held virtually in January 2022. The top thirty percent of competitors in each discipline advanced to the Semi-Finals, which were held virtually in February 2022.

Now in its twenty-sixth 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 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.; Otto M. Budig Family Foundation; Summerfair Cincinnati

Scholarship Sponsors: Arthur Murray – Cincinnati, Douglas Beal, Doreen Beatrice, Bonita Brockert, Brandon Etheridge, Maura Garuccio, Jozsef Parragh, Punky’s Pixels, Summerfair Cincinnati, Josh Tilford, Western & Southern Financial Fund, The William O. Purdy, Jr. Foundation

Printing Sponsor: Graphic Village

THE 2022 OVERTURE AWARDS FINALISTS
Winners listed in bold.

CREATIVE WRITING

• Charlotte Hagen, grade 11, Mariemont High School
• Nkemdilim (Anna Rose) Matu, grade 10, William Mason High School
• Eliza O’Keefe, grade 11, Walnut Hills High School
• Deeya Prakash, grade 12, Sycamore High School

DANCE

• Karley Burdick, grade 12, West Clermont High School, studies with Just Off Broadway
• Ava Cassidy, grade 11, School for Creative and Performing Arts, studies with Just Off Broadway
• Braylan Enscoe, grade 12, William Mason High School, studies with Just Off Broadway
• Neha Gunda, grade 12, Laurel Springs High School, studies with Cultural Centre of India

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

• Christy Kim, grade 10, William Mason High School
• Grace Kim, grade 9, William Mason High School, studies with Randolph Bowman
• Ari Webb, grade 11, Wyoming High School, studies with Alan Rafferty
• Keliang Yao, grade 9, Seven Hills School, studies with Soyeon Kate Lee

THEATER

• Claire Dillon, grade 11, Sycamore High School, studies with Melody Wallace
• Payton Hines, grade 12, Sycamore High School, studies with Karl Resnik
• Joseph Kayne, grade 11, Indian Hill High School, studies with Kathy Cammett
• Sophia Trefz, grade 11, School for Creative and Performing Arts

VISUAL ART

• Brianna Birkle, grade 12, Mercy Mcauley High School
• Emma Olszewski, grade 12, Ursuline Academy
• Marshall Shorten, grade 11, Oak Hills High School
• Emma Wang, grade 12, Ursuline Academy

VOCAL MUSIC

• Sela Foster, grade 11, The Foster Academy (Homeschool), studies with Kelly McKenzie-Thurley
• Claire Hardek, grade 12, Indian Hill High School, studies with Dr. Kimberly Buczek
• Luke Randazzo, grade 12, School for Creative and Performing Arts, studies with Kathy Cammett
• Ella Vaughn, grade 11, Walnut Hills 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 1.9 million students.

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, Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce, and Performing Arts Center Consortium.

# # #

Halle Quinn and Dance Pro Alyenendrov Tsorokean
Crowned New Dancing for the Stars Champs

Michael Betz honored as Fundraising Champion

CINCINNATI, OH – Halle Quinn (Community Volunteer) and her dance pro Alyenendrov Tsorokean (Phoenix Rising Ballroom) received a perfect score of 40, taking first place at the Cincinnati Arts Association’s thirteenth-annual Dancing for the Stars on Saturday, April 13 at the Music Hall Ballroom. Michael Betz (Senior Brand Manager, Strategic Brand Marketing, Gannett, Cincinnati Enquirer) took home the Fundraising Champion Award, as the celebrity who raised the most money for the event through ticket sales and donations.

Rhonda Whitaker (Vice President, Community Relations, Ohio & Kentucky, Duke Energy) and Josh Tilford (Independent Dance Instructor) took second place, and Jeff Thomas (Owner/President, Jeff Thomas Catering) and Bonita Brockert (Independent Dance Instructor) placed third.

The sold-out event welcomed 600 guests. As CAA’s largest annual fundraiser, it raised more than $105,000 in support of the organization’s acclaimed arts education programs, including the Overture Awards – the nation’s largest locally-run high school arts scholarship competition. 

Dancing for the Stars’ silent auction went online one week prior to the event to allow fans and supporters to participate whether or not they were able to attend the fundraiser. The auction raised more than $20,000.  

The remaining three dance pairs included:

• Michael Betz (Senior Brand Manager, Strategic Brand Marketing,  Gannett, Cincinnati Enquirer) and Doreen Beatrice (Independent Dance Instructor)
• Heidi DeJonckheere (Dental  Hygienist, Eastgate Dental Excellence) and Brandon Etheridge (Independent Dance Instructor)
• Phil Gill (General Sales Manager, Tom Gill Chevrolet) and Desiree Mainous (Arthur Murray Dance Studio – Cincinnati)
• Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney (President & CEO, Sesh Communications) and Jozsef Parragh (Independent Dance Instructor)

Inspired by the hit ABC-TV show Dancing with the Stars, Dancing for the Stars 2019 featured seven Cincinnati celebrities paired with some of the area’s finest professional dancers in a competition program, at which the audience vote and judges scores propelled the winners to victory. The competitive dance for the evening was the Cha Cha, and each dance pair had 90 seconds to woo the crowd and the judges.

Event emcees were Chris O’Brien and Janeen Coyle (“Married with Microphones,” 103.5 WGRR-FM). The four competition judges were Douglas Beal (Independent Dance Instructor), Barbara Hauser (2015 Dancing for the Stars Alum; Manager, Ohio Government & Community Relations, Procter & Gamble), Pam Kravetz (2018 Dancing for the Stars Third-Place Winner; Nationally-Recognized Artist, Arts Educator, and Project Manager for ArtWorks), Steve Valerius (2018 Dancing for the Stars Alum; President Individual Division, Ameritas Life Insurance).

Currently in its thirteenth year, Dancing for the Stars has become one of the most-anticipated (and imitated) fundraising events of the season.  Since the event’s debut in 2007, nearly 100 local notables have ‘danced for a cause’. The impressive list of past champions includes:  2007 – Dr. O’dell Owens (former president, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College; former Hamilton County coroner); 2008 – Jenell Walton (former WLWT-TV5 reporter; former reporter, The List; former WCPO-TV9 anchor and reporter); 2009 – Phil Schworer (attorney, Frost Brown Todd; former president, Cincinnati Bar Association); 2010 – Donna Speigel (owner, The Snooty Fox); 2011 – Dr. Tracey Skale, M.D. (chief medical officer, Greater Cincinnati Behavioral  Health Services), 2012 –  Regina Russo (former chief of communications, Contemporary Arts Center; former director of marketing and communications, Cincinnati Art Museum; former anchor/reporter, WXIX-TV19), 2013 – Chris Seelbach (Cincinnati City Councilman), 2014 – Neal Schulte (founder & president, Schulte Financial Group, LLC), 2015 – Johnny Chu (owner, KungFood Chu’s AmerAsia restaurant),  2016 – Jay Lame (financial analyst, Lenox Wealth Management), 2017 – Rohan Hemani (Procter & Gamble Fabric Care intrapenuer), and 2018 – Dr. Marcia Bowling (Gynecologic Oncology, The Christ Hospital Network).

In addition, Dancing for the Stars 2019 featured:

• Dinner-by-the-bite provided by A Catered Affair, Alfio’s buon cibo, CMX CineBistro, Eddie Merlot, First Watch, Garnish Catering, Jeff Thomas Catering, Maggiano’s Little Italy, Oriental Wok, Prime Cincinnati, Skyline Chili, Street City Pub, Vonderhaar’s Catering, Whole Foods Market
• Popular DJ and 103.5 WGRR personality Rockin’ Ron Schumacher
• Pre-event wine tasting compliments of Biltmore Estate Winery and meet-and-greet with the stars
• Open dancing before and after the competition

Event highlights included:

• Entertaining and amazing exhibition dances by Dancing for the Stars talented pros.
• An athletic, awe-inspiring cabaret-style dance filled with impressive lifts and spins, performed by champion dance-pro Alyenendrov Tsorokean and his fiancé Maria Wheeler. The exhibition dance received a standing ovation from the cheering crowd.
• An inspiring video about the Overture Awards featuring interviews with the six student winners of this year’s Overture Awards finals competition.

• Two big screens that featured live video of the competition and engaging video introductions of the stars and pros (interviews and rehearsal footage) before their dances.
• Humorous, astute, and supportive comments from the Dancing for the Stars panel of judges.
• Exceptionally responsive, raucous, and energetic audience reactions, which included large cheering sections holding signs with various messages in support of their favorite Stars.
• The evening’s champs – former figure skater Halle Quinn and her muscular dance pro Alyenendrov Tsorokean – earned the night’s only perfect score of 40 with a routine that included breathtaking lifts and spins, danced to the song “Bla Bla Bla Bla Cha Cha Cha.”
• Wearing one of the most stunning sequined dresses of the evening, second-place finisher Rhonda Whitaker brought a fun contemporary approach to the Cha Cha with her pro Josh Tilford, danced to the popular and upbeat song “Uptown Funk.”
• Third-place finisher Jeff Thomas played a lifeguard in a red t-shirt with an eye for the girl in the polka-dot swimsuit in a charming dance to the classic song “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.”
• Fundraising Champ Michael Betz showed off his best Freddy Mercury moves with pro Doreen Beatrice to a rousing medley of the rock group Queen’s greatest hits.
• Phil Gill parodied his local Tom Gill Chevrolet TV commercials with this Dad Tom, who was on stage giving his son advice on how to meet a girl (his perky pro Desiree Mainous) – by dancing her into his big (toy) car!  Phil and Desiree performed to, of course, the song “Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car.”
• A second “Uptown Funk” Cha-Cha featured Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney, who channeled her inner Tina Turner in a bright-red fringe dress and an ear-to-ear smile during her dance with pro Jozsef Parragh, sporting bright red shoes to match Jan’s dress.
• Heidi DeJonckheere did the Queen City proud with a fun and energized Cha-Cha with dance pro Brandon Etheridge to a mash up of Cincinnatian Rosemary Clooney’s hit “Sway” and the electronic dance mix “(Mucho Mambo) Sway.”

Presenting Sponsor: TriHealth 

Silent Auction Sponsors: Graphic Village, Lenox Wealth Management, Paolo A Modern Jeweler, WOW Windowboxes 

Event Sponsors: Arthur Murray – Cincinnati, Doreen Beatrice, Bonita Brockert, Brandon Etheridge, Graphic Village, Jozsef Parragh, Pebble Creek Group, Phoenix Rising Ballroom, Josh Tilford

Libations Sponsors:  Biltmore Estate Wines, Heidelberg Distributing, Pepsi 

Event Committee:  Amal Daoud, Terry Foster, Sue Gilkey, Jim Howland, Ginger Loftin, Rosemary Schlachter, Phil Schworer, Tracey Skale

CAA’s OVERTURE AWARDS AND ARTS EDUCTION PROGRAMS
Cincinnati Arts Association’s Education & Community Engagement programs promote life-long participation in the arts, while contributing to individual, organizational, and community success. With a mission to educate, inspire, and engage the Tri-state region, these accessible arts programs ignite the imagination of students of all ages.

The Overture Awards is one of several programs ‒ which also include Artists on Tour, SchoolTime, Emerging Arts Leaders, and more ‒ that have served more than 1.6 million children and adults since the inception of CAA’s Education & Community Engagement programs two decades ago. CAA is proud of its newest initiative, Arts in Healing, which promotes wellness through the arts.

The Overture Awards – the largest locally-run, high school arts scholarship competition in the country – recognizes, encourages, and rewards 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. Each year, more than 450 students are nominated by their schools to compete, and this year’s competition awarded $42,000 in scholarships for excellence in Creative Writing, Dance, Instrumental Music, Theater, Visual Art, and Vocal Music. To date, the Overture Awards has awarded $750,000 to support artistically-talented students in pursuit of their dreams. Now in its 22nd year, the Overture Awards was launched in 1996 by the Cinergy Foundation and Leadership Cincinnati (a Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber program).

As part of the Overture Awards, the Arts Educator Award for Excellence in Arts Instruction promotes and rewards excellence in arts instruction throughout the Tri-state region – just one more way to encourage quality arts in Cincinnati USA!

For more information about CAA’s Education & Community Engagement programs, visit www.cincinnatiarts.org/education-community.

CINCINNATI ARTS ASSOCIATION
Founded in 1992, the Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA) is a not-for-profit organization that oversees the programming and management 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.

#  #  #

$45,500 Awarded for Excellence in the Arts
Arts Educator Award Winner Also Announced    

CINCINNATI, OH – The Cincinnati Arts Association is pleased to announce the winners of its Overture Awards Competition, held on Saturday, March 9, 2019 at the Aronoff Center’s Jarson-Kaplan Theater, and the winner of its 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.

2019 OVERTURE AWARD WINNERS

CREATIVE WRITING: Maura O’Dea – grade 12, Ursuline Academy
HOMETOWN: Blue Ash, OH – Maura spends her time working backstage as a stage manager, editing the creative writing section of the newspaper, and running the writing club she co-founded. Maura’s plans for the future include pursuing an English degree and publishing something beautiful one day.

DANCE: Jordan Slemons – grade 12, Anderson High School / Just Off Broadway
HOMETOWN: Anderson, OH – Jordan has been dancing for fifteen years at Just Off Broadway. She couldn’t be happier to have been given this amazing opportunity to be a an Overture Awards finalist. She wants to thank her family, teachers, and friends for always supporting her.

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC: Simon Bakos – grade 11, William Mason High School / DCG Studio
HOMETOWN: Mason, OH – Simon has been studying clarinet and bass clarinet for the past five years. He currently participates in the clarinet section of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra. He was principal clarinet in the 2019 Ohio All-State Orchestra, and has performed with the William Mason Wind Symphony at the Midwest Clinic. He enjoys performing with his high school marching band, and looks forward to enjoying and supporting music in the future.

THEATER: Jonah Sorscher – grade 11, Indian Hill High School / Musical Arts Center
HOMETOWN: Camp Dennison, OH – Jonah is thrilled to perform at the Overture Awards! Besides performing, he loves to write his own theater, producing an original musical, Alibi, this summer. He thanks the Cincinnati Actor’s Studio & Academy, Musical Arts Center, Becky Childs, and his family and friends for their love and support.

VISUAL ART: Alyson Power – grade 12, Lakota West High School
HOMETOWN: West Chester, OH – Alyson’s mother, an art teacher, introduced her to art very early. Alyson has explored art her whole life. She will be majoring in Fine Art at either Miami or Ohio University. She’s won twenty Scholastic Art awards, including one National Medal, five Governor’s Art Awards, and has displayed work at The Xavier Juried Exhibition.

VOCAL MUSIC: Lauren Maynus – grade 12, Ursuline Academy / Alison Acord
HOMETOWN: Amberly Village, OH – Lauren studies voice with Dr. Alison Acord, is a section leader with the Pleasant Ridge Presbyterian Church choir under the direction of Dr. Tom Merrill, is on the Student Board at TX, and is honored to participate in the Overture Awards Finals again this year! Lauren has been selected for the Met’s High School Opera Singer Intensive program this winter, will attend Schmidt Vocal Institute this summer, and plans to study Vocal Performance in the Fall.

2019 ARTS EDUCATOR AWARD WINNER

Benita Tse- Leung, Leung Studio
Discipline: Piano
Nominated by Jenny Hu

The Overture Awards Regional Competitions were held on January 26 at the Immanuel School of Music, Northern Kentucky University, and Mount Saint Joseph University. The top twenty percent of competitors in each discipline advanced to the Semi-Finals, which were held at the Aronoff Center on February 7-9.

Now in its twenty-third 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, 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.; Otto M. Budig Family Foundation; Summerfair Cincinnati

Scholarship Sponsors: Arthur Murray – Cincinnati; Doreen Beatrice; Douglas Beal; Bonita Brockert; Brandon Etheridge; 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 School of Music, Northern Kentucky University, Mount Saint Joseph University

Printing Sponsor: Graphic Village

THE 2019 OVERTURE AWARDS FINALISTS
Winners listed in bold 

CREATIVE WRITING

• Sam Bowden – grade 11, Wyoming High School
• Iris LeCates – grade 11, Walnut Hills High School
• Maura O’Dea – grade 12, Ursuline Academy
• Molly Tierney – grade 12, Beechwood High School 

DANCE

• Krupa Hegde – grade 10, Larry A. Ryle High School  / Cultural Centre of India
• Hanna Hopple – grade 12, Saint  Ursula Academy / McGing Irish Dancers
• Ava Sine – grade 11, School for Creative & Performing Arts / Just Off Broadway
• Jordan Slemons – grade 12, Anderson High School / Just Off Broadway

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC  

• Simon Bakos – grade 11, William Mason High School / DCG Studio
• Liam Hedrick – grade 12, Homeschool / UC-CCM Preparatory
• Kasey M. Shao – grade 10, Walnut Hills High School / CCM
• Andrew Yang – grade 10, Seven Hills School / CCM 

THEATER  

• Eleanor Donnelly  – grade 12, Wyoming High School / Bill Seale
• Jake Jervis – grade 10, Sycamore High School / McCready Voice Studio
• Maxwell Metsch  – grade 12, School for Creative & Performing Arts / Lincoln Chapman Studio
• Jonah Sorscher – grade 11, Indian Hill High School / Musical Arts Center 

VISUAL ART  

• Geneva Huffman – grade 12, School for Creative & Performing Arts
• Alyson Power – grade 12, Lakota West High School
• Trey Small – grade 12, Lakota West High School
• Grace Vanderwoude – grade 12, Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy

VOCAL MUSIC  

• Reed Gnepper – grade 12, School for Creative & Performing Arts / UC-CCM Preparatory
• Amy Helms – grade 12, Kings High School / Musical Arts Center
• Sarah Koopman – grade 12, Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy / Karl Resnik Studio
• Lauren Maynus – grade 12, Ursuline Academy / Alison Acord

 

2019 ARTS EDUCATOR AWARD FINALISTS
Winner listed in bold

Lincoln Chapman, Private Teacher
Discipline: Vocal Music
Nominated by: Maxwell Metsch 

Catherine Keen, The Keen Voice Studio
Discipline: Vocal Music
Nominated by: Grace Caccavari

Benita Tse-Leung, Leung Studio
Discipline: Piano
Nominated by: Jenny Hu

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 1.7 million students. 

# # #