Scholarships/Winston Voice and Art
THE SHIRLEY RABB WINSTON VOICE SCHOLARSHIP
Sponsored by THE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF ARTS AND LETTERS
In honor of Shirley Rabb Winston, an annual scholarship has been established and made available through The National Society of Arts and Letters to young vocal artists between the ages of 16 and 22. Applicants must demonstrate exceptional talent and promise of future success. The scholarship funds are for private study, special voice programs, or similar career training, and not for college tuition, housing or travel.
THE NAOMI RABB WINSTON ART SCHOLARSHIP
Sponsored by THE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF ARTS AND LETTERS
We are delighted that our selection for 2-D Visual Art, Kathryn Dennison, won a $1500 scholarship at the National Level.
In honor of Naomi Rabb Winston, NSAL established an annual scholarship fund for young visual artists between the ages of 16 and 22. Applicants must demonstrate exceptional talent and promise of future success. The scholarship funds are only for private study, for special training or for personal advancement in the applicant’s art medium. They can be used for workshops, museum programs, summer programs, etc. The funds are not for college tuition, housing or travel. The maximum amount awarded to an applicant is $5,000. In most years as many as eight to ten scholarships are awarded in varying amounts.
2015 Winners
- Scholarship Recipients
2016 NSAL Lynn University Scholarship winners for Strings and Piano:
Yaroslava Poletaeva and Darren Matais
The National Society of Arts and Letters Florida Atlantic University Scholarship recipients are:
Woodwinds-Oboe: John Weisberg
Underwritten by Chevalier Donald and Mrs. Mandich
Music/Percussion: Darshan Jhaveri
Underwritten by Hal Upbin
Creative Writing:
Shari Lefler
3D Visual Arts: Erin Shayler
Underwritten by Marilyn Ginocola
2016 Winston Voice Scholarship Winners
- Scholarship Winners
Michael Pandolfo, 21, University of Kentucky; Kentucky Chapter
$2,600 for private study or summer 2017 program.
Mary Burke, 21, Peabody Conservatory; Washington, D.C. Chapter
$2,200 for the Musiktheater Bavaria program, July 2016.
Ruby Dibble, 20, Oberlin Conservatory; St. Louis Chapter
$2200 for "Oberlin in Italy,” summer 2016.
Dorothy Gal, 21, Mannes College of Music; Florida East Coast Chapter
$1,000 for private coaching sessions with Joan Dornemann.
Javier Castellanos, 21, Marymount Manhattan College; New York/Chautauqua Chapter
$1,000 for private study.
In the Younger Category:
Kathryn Aman, 17, high school student; New Jersey Chapter
$1000 for private study or a summer program.
- Scholarship Judges
Our 2016 judges, all of whom have considerable experience with young voices, the repertoire, and vocal adjudication, are as follows:
Dr. Carol Kimball, mezzo-soprano, is a noted author of books and articles on art song and opera, an editor of widely used song and aria anthologies, and a recognized specialist in French repertoire. A gifted recitalist and Emerita Professor of Voice at the University of Nevada, she remains active as a clinician, lecturer, writer and adjudicator.
Elisabeth Pehlivanian, soprano and consummate recitalist, has given performed in more than 300 shows in premier venues in Europe, Canada and the U.S., with repertoire ranging from 5th-Century Armenian chant to the avant-garde. She has taught Voice, Diction, Art Song Repertoire, and Opera Scenes at California State University, Long Beach since 1999, and now resides in Arizona.
Henri Venanzi, a distinguished keyboardist, multi-lingual vocal coach, opera conductor and lecturer, is currently Chorus Master for both the Cincinnati and Arizona Operas. He has performed with internationally acclaimed recitalists and orchestras throughout Europe and the U.S. and has served as Music Director for Young Artist and youth music programs across the country.
Current Competitions
National Drama Competion Florida East Coast Chapter winner, Darius J. Manuel
National Drama Competition Florida East Coast Chapter Competitors
National Brass and Piano Duo Competitors, with Judges and NSAL committee.
Winners, Sodienye Finebone and Kristi Mendez with competition sponsor, Mr. Donald Mandich.
2017 Winners
- Local Competition
The Florida East Coast Chapter awarded $3,750 to three outstanding young performers during its local EN POINTE: Classical Ballet Competition on Saturday, March 11 at The HARID Conservatory in Boca Raton.
The three winners were:
Sophie Miklosovic, 1st place - $2,000, of Pompano Beach and a ballet student at The Art of Classical Ballet.
Tabe Hidetora, 2nd place - $1,000, a campus resident and ballet student at The HARID Conservatory.
Bela Erlandson, 3rd place - $750, also a campus resident and ballet student at The HARID Conservatory.
Judges for the competition included:
Darleen Callaghan, director of School Administration at Miami City Ballet School, danced a variety of principal, soloist and corps de ballet roles with North Carolina Dance Theatre.
Bruce Marks, internationally acclaimed dance choreographer, coach and teacher, was the first American principal dancer of The Royal Danish Ballet.
Jane Tyree, director and co-artistic director of the Boca Ballet Theatre School, began her training with the Birmingham Civic Ballet and continued training at the University of Alabama dance department, where she received a B.A. in Arts Management and Dance Performance.
Mauricio Cañete, dance producer, has danced for Houston Ballet, where he was a soloist, as well as Ballet Florida and Ballet Eloelle.
- National Competition
The National Society of Arts and Letters awarded $31,000 to the top five outstanding young performers in the national EN POINTE: Classical Ballet Competition during the NSAL Annual Meeting in Boca Raton, Florida, May 29 - June 3, 2017.
The five winners were:
Gillian Fitz, 1st place - $12,000, representing the Greater New York Area Chapter, hails from Texas and currently trains at Ellison Ballet Professional Training Program in New York City. She ventured to New York City at age 17 to pursue her dream of becoming a professional ballet dancer and has attended a variety of ballet programs, including Pittsburgh Ballet Theater and The School of American Ballet.
Juliet Doherty, 2nd place - $8,000, representing the Greater Arizona Chapter, began training early in New Mexico, earning herself a full Scholarship at the San Fransisco Ballet School. She has performed at Lincoln Center in New York City and toured with the world famous Radio City Rockettes.
Sophie Miklosovic, 3rd place - $6,000, representing our very own Florida East Coast Chapter, is a ballet student at The Art of Classical Ballet in Pompano Beach. She has toured nationally with New York City Dance Alliance, and trained in summer programs at Joffrey Ballet School in New York City and Next Generation Ballet Program in Tampa.
Roland Jones, 4th place - $4,000, representing the Washington D.C. Chapter, currently studies at the Maryland Youth Ballet and will attend Boston Ballet’s intensive program on a full scholarship this summer.
Masanori Takiguchi, honorable mention - $1,000, representing the Pittsburgh Chapter, began training at age six and has attended ballet programs in China, Germany, Austria and currently Pittsburgh.
Judges for the competition included:
Christopher Wheeldon, one of the most celebrated choreographers in the world and a Tony Award-winner, has created more than 90 works for many of the world’s major ballet companies including - New York City Ballet, The Royal Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet and National Ballet of Canada.
Cynthia Harvey, Artistic Director of American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, has the distinction of being the first American dancer invited to be a principal ballerina for the Royal Ballet. Harvey also performed as a guest artist for Baryshnikov and Company, Nureyev and Friends and numerous, internationally renowned ballet companies
Maurice Brandon Curry, Executive Artistic Director of New York’s Eglevsky Ballet Company, has choreographed ballets and theatre works of numerous dance companies and universities around the world including Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal, Lexington Repertory Dance Theatre, Adelphi University, Carolina Ballet, Ballet du Nord and others.
Steven Caras, internationally-acclaimed Dance Photographer, was 18 when he was invited to join the New York City Ballet by its founder, the renowned George Balanchine. Over the next 14 years, Caras would dance worldwide in numerous masterpiece works choreographed by Balanchine and Jerome Robbins.
The 2018 Annual Meeting and Woodwinds Competition will be held in Chautauqua, New York.
For more information, visit www.arts-nsal.org
2016 Winners
- National Musical Theater Competition
John Clay III, 1st Place - $12,000, representing the Pittsburgh Chapter, hails from Chicago and is a rising senior at Carnegie MellonUniversity. What he loves about theater is the storytelling aspect and how it draws people together under one roof. To be in theater and to change the political climate is an incredible endeavor. He is grateful for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and continues to thank his mother for her patience in raising a stubborn lost boy.
Jeffrey Kringer, 2nd place - $7000, representing the Chautauqua Chapter, will be a junior at Fredonia State University of New York, continuing to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre. Born and raised in the Central New York area, he is happy to be surrounded with such great respect for this craft by talent from around the country. He is most appreciative of the deserving people he will remember and the experiences he will share with them. Thank you to his friends and family, his mentor, Ted, and the chair of the Chautauqua Chapter, Margaret, along with all others who helped get him where he is today.
Cameron Mullin, 3rd place - $5000, representing the Bloomington Chapter, is honored to be competing with some extraordinary talent this year in Phoenix! He is a recent graduate of Indiana University with a BFA in Musical Theatre. Some of his favorite credits at IU were Daddy Brubeck in Sweet Charity, the Egungun in In the Red and Brown Water, and Mary Sunshine in Chicago. This year he will be performing at Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts in Warsaw, Indiana, for its summer season. He plans to move to NYC in August!
Austen Danielle Bohmer, 4th place - $3000, representing the Saint Louis Chapter, is approaching her final year in the BFA Acting program at the Webster Conservatory of Theater Arts. Her regional theatre credits include: Ariel in The Little Mermaid, Christine Patterson in One Man, Two Guvnors, Laurey in Oklahoma, and Echor in Eleemosynary. Austen also trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, where she played Emilia in The Two Noble Kinsmen. This summer, Austen is thrilled to e heading toConnecticut, where she will be working at the Goodspeed Opera House in a production of Bye Bye Birdie.
Anson Woodin, honorable mention - $1000, representing the Central Illinois Chapter, is pursuing a master’s in voice performance and literature at the University of Illinois. He is from Ames, Iowa, and graduated with a degree in music and finance from Iowa StateUniversity. While at Iowa State, he was involved with productions of Candide as Maximilian and The Mikado as the Midado, Rent as Benny and Fiddler on the Roof as Tevye. At the University of Illinois he has performed the role of Peter Quince in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Danilo in The Merry Widow and Cinderella’s Prince/The Wolf in Into the Woods. Anson was the 2015 baritone soloist for the Simon Estes Young Artist Program and was a finalist in the 2014 NATS National Musical Theatre Competition.
- Judges for the Competition
Judy Kaye, winner of Tony Awards and several nominations for Broadway performances, is presently starring on Broadway as Madame Morrible in Wicked. Judy Kaye was presented with the NSAL Gold Medallion of Merit, NSAL’s highest honor for lifetime achievement.
Will Trice has served as associate lead producer on 17 Broadway productions, two West End productions, and three national tours, having received several Tony Awards; he is currently represented on Broadway by Fiddler on the Roof and American Psycho, as well as the national tour of The Bridges of Madison County. Lauren Chapman is the Resident Teaching Artist and Manager of Teaching and Learning for Disney Theatrical Group in New York City. In 2004 she was the 1st place winner in Greater AZ 4th place nationally in the Musical Theatre competition. Jeffery Kennedy is assistant professor in the Division of Humanities, Art and Cultural Studies atArizona State University. Michael Barnard, in his 17th season as Phoenix Theatre’s Producing Artistic Director is adjunct professor atArizona State University’s School of Music.
The National Society of Arts and Letters also provides scholarships to talented students to attend the California Institute of the Arts. Dana Ljubicic, a fourth year winner, received the NSAL Scholarship of $5,800. Dana, an undergraduate student, presented her solo show, Displacement, in November 2014. This scholarship enables talented young artists to study at CalArts and reduces their burden of educational debt.
Michael Pandolfo, representing the Kentucky Chapter, who received the first place Shirley Rabb Winston Scholarship, performed for the organization’s Annual Meeting. He has performed at Fort Worth Opera, Sarasota Opera and the Kennedy Center. Michael was a winner in National Winner for YoungArts and 1st place in the Schmidt Youth Vocal Competition. He will attend Seagle Music Colony this summer before returning to start his junior year at Kentucky.
Alena Titova, representing the Washington D.C. Chapter, an 18-year-old artist from Sterling, VA, is one of eight finalists of the 2016 Naomi Winston Scholarship in Two-Dimensional Art. She was selected as the featured artist to show her work at the annual meeting in Phoenix. She will be attending the University of Virginia this fall. She plans to use her $2,000 scholarship for intensive studies in "Drawing the Figure" at the Parsons School of Design in New York City.
Michelle Chen, winner of the Iowa Writers' Studio scholarship is a junior at Hunter College High School in Whitestone,New York. winner of the Iowa Writers' Studio scholarship, is a junior at Hunter College High School in Whitestone, New York. She is a sixteen-year old poet, writer, and artist who takes inspiration for her writing from the events that occur in and around her home, New York City, though she was born in Singapore and hopes to return and visit someday. She is the first-prize winner of the 2015 Knopf Poetry prize and the Norm Strung Youth Writing Competition, the recipient of the Critical Junior Poet's Award, was commended as a Foyle Young Poet of the Year, and has performed at Lincoln Cnter. Her work has been honored both regionally and nationally in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards and has appeared or will appear in Prairie Schooner, the Sharkpack Poetry Review, The Critical Pass Review, Across the Margin, Transcendence, Alexandria Quarterly, Ember, On Spec, Polyphony HS, Pif Magazine, and elsewhere.
Annual Meeting and Dance Competition will be held in Boca Raton, Florida - May, 2017
For more information: National Society of Arts and Letters national website: www.arts-nsal.org
2015 Winners
- National Drama Competition
Jonathan Michael Majors, representing the Chautauqua Chapter, won the National Society of Arts and Letters First Place Award of $10,000. Mr. Majors holds a BFA from the School of Arts at the University of North Carolina and is currently attending Yale University as a Master of Fine Arts Candidate in the Yale School of Drama. He has received the MFA Lloyd Richards Scholarship and the SAFD Recommended Certification.
Lara Anderson Dohner, representing the Saint Louis Chapter, won the Dorothy Nicholson Stabell Memorial Second Place Award of $8,000. Ms. Dohner holds a BFA in Acting from The Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University in St. Louis. She received the Gold Award in 2010-2011 from the Iowa High School State Speech Association. Ms. Dohner has studied with Paul Mason Barnes, David Caldwell, Tamilla Woodard, Milissa Rain Anderson, John McCluggage, Doug Finlayson and makes her home Dubuque, Iowa.
Mitchell Moyeahe Edwards, representing the Pittsburgh Chapter, won the Past President Jack Masters Third Place Award of $6,000. Mr. Edwards holds a BA in Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University. He has had the pleasure of working with teachers and directors from Carnegie Mellon University such as: Phylicia Rashad, Don Wadsworth, Barbara MacKkenzie-Wood, Anthony McKay, Tami Dixon, Cameron Knight, Pamela Berlin. Mr. Edwards resides in Philadelphia, PA.
Monique Denise Ingram, representing the Washington D.C. Chapter, won the St. Louis Chapter Honorable Mention Award of $2,000. Ms. Ingram holds an Associate of Arts degree from Baltimore City Community College. She has studied with Donald Hicken, Richard Pilcher, Denise Diggs, and Tazewell Thompson.
Ian Damont Martin, representing the Bloomington Chapter, won the Doni Lystra and Denna Shiben Honorable Mention Award of $2,000. Mr. Martin is currently working on his BA in Theatre and Drama from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. He received the Hagarty Ment Award and an Art Diploma, School for Creative & Performing Arts in Cincinnati, OH. Mr. Martin worked with Fontaine Syer, Dale McFadden, Lee Cromwell, David Roth, Mary Lenning, Gina Kleesattel at the School for Creative & Performing Arts.
- Competition Judges
Rick Dildine, the Executive Director of Shakespeare Festival St. Louis has had an extensive career in the performing arts, including as Artistic Director of the Stephen Foster Theatre in Kentucky.
Geoffrey Soffer is a talent manager and producer with a boutique roster of actors, writers and directors. He was the casting director of "Ugly Betty" and "The Beautiful Life," has lectured at several universities, and was also a judge for the NSAL 2009 Drama Competition in Washington.
Molly Smith has been the Artistic Director of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. since 1998. She has directed a multitude of plays across the U.S. and Canada and positioned Arena Stage as a national center for American artists.
Elmore James is one of the most versatile artists working today. His career spans opera, dance and Broadway in the U.S. and Europe, and includes teaching stints at six universities.
- California Institute of the Arts
NSAL also provides scholarships to talented students to attend the California Institute of the Arts
Dana Ljubicic, a third year winner, received the NSAL Scholarship of $5,800. Dana, an undergraduate student, presented her solo show, Displacement, in November 2014. A highlight of this year’s annual meeting was a video Ms. Ljubicic created to thank the Society. This scholarship enables talented young artists to study at CalArts and reduces their burden of educational debt.
Amy Nicole Broadbent, representing the Washington D.C. Chapter, who placed first in The National Society of Arts and Letters’ National Shirley Rabb Winston Voice Scholarship Competition, performed for the organization’s Annual Meeting. Broadbent is a 22-year-old resident of Rockville, MD, and December 2014 graduate of the University of Maryland. She was awarded a $3,000 scholarship for advanced musical training at the Lyric Opera Studio Weimar, summer session.
Catherine Chen, representing the Florida East Coast Chapter, a seventeen-year-old artist from Wellington, FL, is the 2015 winner of the Naomi Winston Scholarship in Two-Dimensional Art. She plans to attend the five-year Brown University/RISD Dual Degree Program that is offered in conjunction with the Rhode Island School of Design. Her $2,000 Winston scholarship enables her to study at the prestigious California Summer School for the Arts.
Adriane Tharp, a 2015 graduate from high school at the Alabama School of Fine Arts as a creative writing major, will attend the Iowa Young Writers Studio this summer on NSAL’s first annual scholarship for this Literature event. Her recommender says "Adriane is determined to push her writing and has the stamina to do so." NSAL has contributed the $2,250 fee and funding for roundtrip airfare.
For more information: National Society of Arts and Letters national website at www.arts-nsal.org
