The 22nd annual Arizona Young Artists’ Competition celebrated the youth arts community at the Herberger Theater Center on Feb. 26.
The finale of the competition was held at the Herberger Theater Center on Saturday, with 12 finalists in the disciplines of dance, classical voices, musical theater voices and acting competing for a chance to win a $1,500 scholarship or a $100 People’s Choice award.
Before the finale, young artists, ages 15-20, participated in auditions last Monday through Thursday. Throughout the process, the performers garnered feedback from acclaimed judges and professional audition experience.
“This sets them up for success,” Cescily Wiener, director of community engagement of the Herberger Theater Center, said.
Several young artists from each category emerged as finalists after the auditions, including several Arizona State University and downtown Phoenix high school students. In the voice category, three finalists were ASU students, including environmental engineering freshman Ashley Bragg, biomedical informatics freshman Tea Zawilak and music therapy junior Carly Jacobs.
“They will be ready to go to auditions and have some experiences behind them, and be able to pursue arts at another level,” Wiener added. The winners of the competition, as well as the finalists, received high acclaim from the judges and the audience with their spectacular performances.
“I am always impressed and touched by all of them,” Judy Rollings, a founding member of Actors Theater of Phoenix and the director of art education and outreach at the Herberger Theater Center, said.
Between the auditions and final competition, there was a wide range of performances, including song renditions, musical pieces and dance routines. The final competition featured selections from Sophocles’ “Antigone” to 1960 musical “Camelot” — and much more.
16-year-old Ellery Donlon, a junior at downtown Phoenix’s Arizona School for the Arts, won in the dance portion of the competition with “Headphones,” choreographed by Christina Nelson.
“It blew my mind,” Donlon said. “It was such an honor just to be with so many great dancers here.” Donlon said she intends to use the scholarship for college. “I want to go to college for dances and then go into the concert dances,” Donlon shared. She also studies dance with Ballet Arizona in the pre-professional program, according to the competition website.
Several others from ASA competed but didn’t win their respective categories, according to the competition website.
“It is not easy to get up to the whole world,” Rollings said. “To share your talent with the world in order to be judged, that is really difficult.” Judges for the finale included soprano singer Jennifer Song Sheldon, actor and professor Lesley Tutnick-Machbitz, award-winning stage actor and singer James Zanelli, 30-year veteran professional dancer Amber Robins. Music director and faculty coach Mark Fearey was the judge and the pianist for the vocalist categories.
Arizona Young Artists’ Competition honored the legacy of late Frances Cohen, who was the visionary of the competition and the founder of the Center Dance Ensemble. For more than 20 years, Frances Cohen and Judy Rollings led the program that has supported thousands of Arizonan talents pursuing their dreams in performing arts.
“Some have gone on to do Broadway,” Wiener said, “so the program really set them up for a bright future.”
Art education, such as competition and school-based opportunities, help students in many aspects of life. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, budget cuts affected art education in public schools and performing arts organizations across the United States.
“Since COVID, money from across the board has been very tight for everybody, with schools that cut back budgets in art and kids encounter financial constraint,” Emma Jarvis, Herberger Theater Center’s community engagement associate, said.
The Arizona Young Artists’ Competition has contributed to bridging the funding gap by bringing more opportunities to the young performers, helping them propel their future education and career.
In the coming years, the competition and center will continue the long-standing tradition of advocating for artistic growth in the youth art community.
For Judy Rollings, the mantra behind the program is simple: celebrating and encouraging young talents in the performing arts disciplines. She has a message: “Hey, young artists. We see you out there. We are so happy that you are doing this. We need you to do this. You gave us hope in the future. We want you to know that we celebrate you. We are here to support you and help you move forward.”
Contact the reporter at bthai5@asu.edu.
