The Overture Awards

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, February 5, 2010
{please include in all calendar listings}
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Cincinnati Arts Association
The Overture Awards

TOMORROW’S STARS
FINALS COMPETITION AND AWARDS CEREMONY
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CALENDAR INFORMATION
WHAT:           2010 Overture Awards – Finals Competition / Awards Ceremony
WHERE:        Aronoff Center’s Jarson-Kaplan Theater 
WHEN:           Saturday, February 27, 2010 – 1:00 PM
TICKETS:      $15
INFO:             The 2010 Overture Awards Scholarship Competition – the largest locally run arts scholarship competition in the country – provides a $2,500 scholarship to six area high school students for education and training expenses with 18 finalists each winning a $500 scholarship. Students compete in one of six artistic disciplines: Creative Writing, Dance, Instrumental Music, Theater, Visual Art or Vocal Music. The Overture Awards was developed to recognize, encourage and reward excellence in the arts among Tri-state students in grades 9-12.

TICKET INFORMATION – on sale now!
•    www.CincinnatiArts.ORG 
•    (513) 621-ARTS [2787]
•    Aronoff Center Ticket Office
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The Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA) is proud to present the 2010 Overture Awards Scholarship Competition – the largest locally run arts scholarship competition in the country. The Overture Awards annually provides a $2,500 scholarship to six area high school students for education and training expenses, with 18 finalists each winning a $500 scholarship.

The Overture Awards Finals Competition and Awards Ceremony will be held on Saturday, February 27, 2010 at the Aronoff Center’s Jarson-Kaplan Theater at 1:00 PM. Winners will be announced immediately following the competition. 

This year, 493 students were nominated by their schools to compete in one of six artistic disciplines: Creative Writing, Dance, Instrumental Music, Theater, Visual Art or 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: Regionals, Semi-Finals and Finals.
 
The Overture Awards Regional Competitions were held in January at Northern Kentucky University, The University of Cincinnati’s Raymond Walters College, Saint Ursula Academy, Lakeside Christian Church, and Xavier University. The top 20 percent of competitors in each discipline advanced to the Semi-Finals, held at the Aronoff Center the weekend following the Regional Competitions. Twenty-four finalists (four in each discipline) then compete in the Finals Competition at the Aronoff Center.

Now in its fourteenth year, The Overture Awards was launched in 1996 by the Cinergy Foundation (now Duke Energy) and Leadership Cincinnati (a Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce program). The program is 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.
 
Overture Awards Program Sponsors: The Eleanora C.U. Alms Trust, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee; Duke Energy.  Scholarship Sponsors: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation; Citi; Crosset Family Fund; Ohio National Life; William O. Purdy, Jr. Foundation; Summerfair Cincinnati; Western & Southern Financial Fund.  Competition Sponsors: Buddy Roger’s Music; Lakeside Christian Church; Miller-Valentine Group; Northern Kentucky University; St. Ursula Academy; SiteRightNow.com; The University of Cincinnati – Raymond Walters College; Xavier University. 
 
THE 2010 OVERTURE AWARDS FINALISTS
 
CREATIVE WRITING
•    Justine Cefalu – Seven Hills School, grade 11, fiction
•    Lilly Fleischmann – Cincinnati Country Day School, grade 11, poetry
•    Sarah Gregory – Notre Dame Academy, grade 12, poetry
•    Natania Hoffman – Clark Montessori, grade 12, creative non-fiction 

DANCE
•    Taylor Abner – Notre Dame Academy, grade 11,  tap
•    Miranda Culley – Madeira HS, grade 12, Irish
•    Christina Vergara – Northern Cincinnati Youth Ballet, grade 9, modern
•    Maggie Westerfield – St. Ursula Academy, grade 9, modern

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
•    Mackenzie Brauns – Lakota West HS, grade 12, bassoon
•    Jeffery Huang – Leung Piano Studio, grade 9, piano
•    Jacqueline Kitzmiller – Walnut Hills HS, grade 11, violin
•    Jenny Lee – CCM Preparatory, grade 10, violin

THEATER
•    Alyssa Magarian – Cincinnati Country Day School, grade 12, musical theater
•    Christopher Markesbery – St. Xavier HS, grade 12, drama
•    Samuel Ray – Anderson HS, grade 12, musical theater
•    Nathan Robbins – Loveland HS, grade 11, musical theater

VISUAL ART
•    Madeline Becker – Walnut Hills HS, grade 11
•    Caitlin Cook – Lakota West HS, grade 12
•    Katrina Slavik – Mariemont HS, grade 12
•    Lyndsey Vu – Lakota West HS, grade 12

VOCAL MUSIC
•    Nelson Gaker – Randall Wolff Studio, grade 12
•    Kelly Hamm – Hamm Academy, grade 12
•    Brian Moore – Anderson HS, grade 11
•    Sarah Pellington – Milford HS, grade 11
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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 three-quarters of a million students.

CAA is proud to be a member of Association of Performing Arts Presenters, Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, Greater Cincinnati 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.