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Winners in the Spotlight program perform during a live finale on June 6 at The Music Center’s Ahmanson Theatre. (photo courtesy of The Music Center)
The Music Center has announced 14 rising stars from across Southern California as the grand prize winners in the 37th annual Spotlight program, a free performing arts competition and scholarship program for high school students.
Selected among more than 1,600 applicants, the 14 talented teens triumphed in the annual contest comprised of seven categories: Acting, Ballet, Dance, Classical Voice, Non-Classical Voice, Classical Instrumental and Contemporary Instrumental. Each grand prize winner receives a $5,000 scholarship and the opportunity to perform at The Music Center’s Spotlight Grand Finale on Friday, June 6, at 8 p.m. at the Ahmanson Theatre. Free tickets for the Spotlight Grand Finale are available at musiccenter.org/spotlightfinale.
Spotlight, part of the portfolio of The Music Center’s programming arm TMC Arts, offers teens expert advice, coaching and audition experience as well as mastery classes taught by professional artists and arts administrators. Throughout the competition, which began in fall 2024, young artists experience invaluable opportunities such as performance auditions, individual feedback from industry professionals and more than $100,000 in cash awards. The Music Center has awarded more than $2.9 million in scholarships.
Two students were chosen in each of the seven categories. Winners in the Acting category are 11th grade students Matilda Luz Concha Pearson, 17, of Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, and Baz Felber, 17, of Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts. Winners in the Ballet category are 9th graders Liam Geoffrey, 16, of Huntington Beach High School, and Kiera Sun, 15, of Cabrillo Point Academy. In the Classical Instrumental category, Minji Choi, 15, a 10th grade student at Northwood High School, and Evangeline Lien, 15, a 9th grade student at Claremont High School, are the winners. Madison Becerra, 18, a senior at Orange County High School of the Arts, and Jane Hasty, 17, a junior at Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, received top honors in the Classical Voice category. Eleventh grade students Elie Samouhi, 17, of Calabasas High School, and Saoirse Sipes, 17, of Thousand Oaks High School, are the winners in the Contemporary Instrumental category. The Dance category winners are 12th grade students Emma Donnelly, 18, from The Bishop’s School; and River Novin, 17. Tenth grade students Elina Ghosh, 15, of West Ranch High School, and Harlem Shepherd, 15, of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, are the winners in the Non-Classical Voice category.
“Congratulations to this year’s extraordinary Spotlight Grand Prize winners. Advancing to the final stage of this distinguished program is a remarkable accomplishment that reflects not only immense talent, but also countless hours of hard work, rehearsals and resilience,” said Rachel S. Moore, president and CEO of The Music Center. “From the time it began 37 years ago, Spotlight has continued to shape the lives of tens of thousands of students across Southern California. In a world where we all need more connection, joy and inspiration, these young artists remind us of the transformative power of the performing arts and the vital role the arts play in building more vibrant and united communities.”
In addition to the 14 Grand Prize winners, The Music Center named one honorable mention in each of the seven categories, awarding each recipient a $1,000 scholarship. The honorees are Crystin Herring, of Windward School (Acting); Mai Ishiyama, of Excel High School (Ballet); Joshua Ho, of Palisades Charter High School (Classical Instrumental); Samuel Siskind, of Lindamood-Bell Academy (Classical Voice); Riley Ernt, of Foothill High School (Dance); Samuel Chung, of Orange County School of the Arts (Contemporary Instrumental); and Julian Pankowski, of Van Nuys Senior High School (Non-classical voice).
For information about the Spotlight program, visit musiccenter.org/spotlight.
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