CAA ANNOUNCES

2009 OVERTURE AWARD WINNERS

$24,000 Awarded in Arts Scholarships

 

CINCINNATI, OH – The Cincinnati Arts Association is pleased to announce the winners of the 2009 Overture Awards Scholarship Competition, held on Saturday, March 7, 2009 at the Aronoff Center’s Jarson-Kaplan Theater.  The competition annually awards $2,500 scholarships to six area students for post-secondary education, with 18 runners-up each winning $500 scholarships. Students are nominated by their schools to compete in one of six disciplines: Creative Writing, Dance, Instrumental Music, Theater, Visual Art or Vocal Music.  The scholarship program is the largest of its kind in the U.S. and was developed to recognize, encourage and reward excellence in the arts among Tri-state students in grades 9-12. There are three levels of competition: Regionals, Semi-Final and Final.

 

2009 Overture Awards Scholarship Winners

 

CREATIVE WRITING: Laura Grothaus  - Mother of Mercy HS – gr. 12

Laura’s interest in writing began with reading and escaping into words. She is inspired by the simple and scientific transforming of words into poetry, by paradoxes, by the organic nature of art, by her family, her teachers, and the workshops at Kenyon College and Women Writing for (a) Change. She hopes to major in English.

 

DANCE: Hannah Aicholtz – Archbishop McNicholas HS – gr. 11

Hannah has been dancing at the Just Off Broadway dance studio for 14 years.  She was awarded First Runner-up at the 2008 ‘Miss Dance of Ohio’ Dance Masters Competition. Hannah aspires to major in dance, join a contemporary dance company or dance on Broadway. 

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC: Benjamin Leung – Leung Piano Studios/St. Xavier HS – gr. 10

Benjamin studies piano with his parents, Drs. Benita and Jackson Leung. He has received many top prizes in state and international competitions and has appeared as a soloist with orchestras in Cincinnati and Hong Kong. He also performed at Carnegie Hall after winning a gold medal and Grand Prize at the World Piano Competition.   

 

THEATER: Zachary Jordan Steele – Sycamore HS – gr. 11

Zack has been singing all of his life. He started acting late last school year when he realized that his skills as a singer could be directly complementary to acting and musical theater and hasn't left the stage since. He has spent this past year honing his performance technique and hopes to jump-start his future theater ambitions with his Overture Awards Scholarship!

 

VISUAL ART: Evelyn Walker – Oldenburg Academy – gr. 12

Art has been a part of Evelyn’s life “ever since crayons were consumable playthings and the living room a finger-paint laboratory.  I have filled countless sketchbooks and laid waste to millions of restaurant placemats.”  With a mother who majored in art, familial support came early. Evelyn’s future specialty is still unclear, but art will always be a permanent fixture in her life.

 

VOCAL MUSIC: Sarah Mossman – Indian Hill HS – gr. 12

Sarah has enjoyed singing in choirs and in musicals at Indian Hill High School, where she won a Cappies Award last year for her role as Marian in The Music Man. Sarah’s teacher is the amazing, inspiring Lynne Miller. She plans to study voice in college.

 

The Overture Awards Regional Competition is held annually in January at Northern Kentucky University, the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music and Raymond Walters College, and Xavier University. The top 20% of students in each arts discipline advance to the Semi-Finals, held at the Aronoff Center the weekend following the Regional Competition. The Semi-Final winners then compete at the Finals event in the Spring at the Aronoff Center. All former and potential competitors are given the opportunity to study with professionals in their discipline at the Overture Academy, held annually each fall.

 

The Overture Awards Finals Competition and Awards Ceremony was held on Saturday, March 7, 2009 at 1:00 PM at the Aronoff Center’s Jarson-Kaplan Theater.

 

The Cinergy Foundation (now Duke Energy) and Leadership Cincinnati (a Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce program) launched The Overture Awards in 1996. The program is administered by the Cincinnati Arts Association, which manages and operates the Aronoff Center for the Arts and Music Hall. The Overture Awards also relies on hundreds of community volunteers who help raise funds, adjudicate, staff the competitions, and nurture the program.

 

Overture Awards Program Co-Sponsors: Eleanora C.U. Alms Trust, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee; Duke Energy; Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America, Inc.; Anonymous.

 

Scholarship Sponsors: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation; Citi; Western & Southern Fund; Nicholas Payne & Cynthia Heinrich; William O. Purdy, Jr. Foundation; The Michael Bany Memorial Scholarship Fund.

 

Competition Sponsors: SiteRightNow.com; Miller-Valentine Group; Buddy Roger’s Music; Northern Kentucky University; The University of Cincinnati – College Conservatory of Music; The University of Cincinnati – Raymond Walters College; Xavier University; The Musical Arts Center. 

 

 

The 2009 Overture Awards Finalists

 

Winners listed in bold.

 

CREATIVE WRITING

Sarah Gregory – Notre Dame Academy – grade 11 – fiction

Laura Grothaus – Mother of Mercy High School – grade 12 – poetry

Mallory Kessen – Walnut Hills High School – grade 11 – fiction

Pamela Yau – Wyoming High School – grade 11 – creative non-fiction

 

DANCE

Hannah Aicholtz – Archbishop McNicholas High School – grade 11 – lyrical

Annie Honebrink – Beechwood High School – grade 11 – ballet

Alessandra Marconi – Planet Dance – grade 12 – contemporary

Emily Silber – Planet Dance – grade 11 – lyrical

 

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

Diana He – Leung Piano Studios – grade 9 – piano

Benjamin Leung – Leung Piano Studios – grade 10 – piano

Kaori Matsui – Sycamore High School – grade 11 – violin

Karen Zhang – Leung Piano Studios – grade 9 – piano

 

THEATER

John Leo Muething – St. Xavier High School – grade 11 – musical theater

Nathan Robbins – Loveland High School – grade 10 – musical theater

Zachary Jordan Steele – Sycamore High School – grade 11 – musical theater

Chloe Williamson – Walnut Hills High School – grade 12 – musical theater

 

VISUAL ART

Colin Dyer – Loveland High School – grade 12

Didem Mert – Anderson High School – grade 12 - jewelry/photography/pottery

Hillary Sroufe – Milford High School – grade 12 - drawing

Evelyn Walker – Oldenburg Academy – grade 12

 

VOCAL MUSIC

Kathryn Marx – Lakota West High School – grade 12

Sarah Mossman – Indian Hill High School – grade 12

Alexander Muetzel – William Mason High School – grade 12

Benjamin Rosen – Sycamore High School – grade 12

 

Images of the Overture Awards competition, winners, or finalists available upon request.

 

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