The Orange County Register announced the list of nominees for the annual Artist of the Year program, and CUSD had 101 students nominated in the seven categories. There will be 16 semifinalists selected in each discipline, followed by the winners and finalists in April.
Students were chosen by a panel of teachers based on written statements, performance videos or design portfolios, and artistic resumes. This year, when students filled out their portion of the nomination application, they were asked to list their strongest specialty in this discipline. In past years, teachers chose this for them.The nominees are listed below with an endorsement from their nominating teacher, the identification of their strongest specialty and a link to their work. Those students missing their specialty and link did not complete their application, however, they are still considered nominees because they are being honored by their teacher and school.
During the final round of adjudication, students are interviewed by a panel of distinguished artistic professionals and faculty members from Southern California universities as well as a few representative high school teachers. Interviews include a live presentation by the students followed by a question-and-answer session.
Name | School | Specialty |
DANCE | ||
Tatum Bolton | San Juan Hills | Contemporary |
Lyrah Cabrera | Dana Hills | |
Grace DeGroot | San Juan Hills | Contemporary:Broadway |
Kate Hoskin | San Juan Hills | |
Morgan Landrigan | San Juan Hills | |
Summer Lewis | San Juan Hills | Contemporary:Broadway |
Hanna McCabe | San Juan Hills | Contemporary: Jazz |
Amelea Mui | San Juan Hills | Contemporary |
Danica Robertson | San Juan Hills | Contemporary: Jazz |
Dana Smith | Aliso Niguel | Contemporary |
Kaya Tretter | San Juan Hills | |
FILM & TV | ||
Lincoln Scott Cole | Capistrano Valley | Editing: Documentary |
Milo Ambrose Gasset | Capistrano Valley | Editing: Narrative |
Dominic Phan | Capistrano Valley | Directing: Documentary |
INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC | ||
Laili Aissi | Tesoro | |
Ceren Altinitas | Capistrano Valley | Classical: Western, 20th/21st Century (Modernism and After) – Flute |
Owen Bott | Tesoro | |
Daniel de La Cruz | Tesoro | Classical: Western, Early (Medieval to Romantic Periods) – Viola |
Luke Frank | Capistrano Valley | |
John Fredette | Tesoro | |
Teadora Grimberg | Capistrano Valley | |
Tae Eun Jun | Aliso Niguel | |
Samuel Lee | Capistrano Valley | |
Kira Likar | Capistrano Valley | Folk: American Violin |
Luke Maillefer | Capistrano Valley | |
Andrew Nunez | Capistrano Valley | |
Hannah Ratanapratum | Capistrano Valley | Classical: Western, Early (Medieval to Romantic Periods) – Cello, Piano |
Tala Siksek | Tesoro | |
Marenna Speiker | Capistrano Valley | |
Evelyn Toner | Capistrano Valley | Classical: Western, Early (Medieval to Romantic Periods) – Soprano Saxophone |
Jaiden Vinh | Capistrano Valley | Classical: Western, Early (Medieval to Romantic Periods) – Piano |
VOCAL MUSIC | ||
Salonee Agrawal | Tesoro | Pop |
Mia Dean | Capistrano Valley | |
Magda Afra Loreto | Capistrano Valley | Folk |
Brixie Bee Mathewson | Tesoro | Musical Theater Voice |
Mia Muscarella | Tesoro | Musical Theater Voice |
Ramon Nacpil | Capistrano Valley | Pop |
Eva Stone | Tesoro | Jazz |
Ava Terlouw | Tesoro | Classical: Art Songs |
Gabe Tiscareno | Capistrano Valley | |
Brooke Walker | Tesoro | Country |
Miranda Young | Tesoro | Musical Theater Voice |
THEATER | ||
Gabriella Badgwell | Dana Hills | |
Arbel Ben-Abraham | Capistrano Valley | Design: Costumes |
Jessica Beutler | Dana Hills | Musical Theater Performance |
London Braithwaite | San Clemente | Musical Theater Performance |
Jordan Brown | Aliso Niguel | Musical Theater Performance |
McKenzie Cahill | Capistrano Valley | Musical Theater Performance |
Evelin Chavez | Dana Hills | Marketing and Publicity |
Shannon Coppola | San Juan Hills | Design: Costumes |
Grace Dimapilis | Aliso Niguel | Design: Lighting |
Dylan Droege | Capistrano Valley | Design: Lighting |
Luke Dunphy | San Juan Hills | |
Imaan Entezar | Capistrano Valley | |
Allison Garrel | Tesoro | Musical Theater Performance |
Lindsey Garrel | Tesoro | Acting |
Arna Lisa Gnielinski | San Juan Hills | Musical Theater Performance |
Ariana Gomez | Tesoro | Acting |
Molly Graff | San Clemente | |
Deven Grover | Tesoro | Acting |
Lucy Himmelberg | Dana Hills | Musical Theater Performance |
Sydney Holland | San Juan Hills | Musical Theater Performance |
Grace Holley | San Juan Hills | Design: Costumes |
Abby Jacobs | Tesoro | Acting |
Talar Keshishian | Aliso Niguel | Directing |
Jacob Koclanis | San Juan Hills | Musical Theater Performance |
Daisy Koprowski | Capistrano Valley | Acting |
Tre Kuhn | San Clemente | |
Chelsea Morales | San Juan Hills | Acting |
Grace Nachreiner | San Clemente | Musical Theater Performance |
Mars O’Kane | Dana Hills | Design: Lighting |
Mia Perez | Aliso Niguel | Directing |
Leo Perry | San Juan Hills | Acting |
Allison Piwonka | San Juan Hills | Acting |
Chris Preusse | Tesoro | |
Noah Reynen | Capistrano Valley | |
Lauren Rigby | Tesoro | Musical Theater Performance |
Vanessa Roselli | San Juan Hills | Stage Management |
Ellie Smallwood | Tesoro | Acting |
Felicity Stephan | Musical Theater Performance | |
Tristan Theard-Garcia | Dana Hills | Musical Theater Performance |
Odie Thomas | Dana Hills | Musical Theater Performance |
Gage Williams-Whitney | Tesoro | |
FINE ARTS | ||
Taylor Abbott | San Clemente | Mixed Media: Mixed 2D Styles |
Kai Coleman | Aliso Niguel | |
Cristal E. De Los Santos | Capistrano Valley | Painting: Oils, Acrylic, Tempera, Alkyd |
Theo Green | Capistrano Valley | |
Melanie Hui | San Juan Hills | Mixed Media: Mixed 2D Styles |
Paige Kavert | San Juan Hills | Painting: Oils, Acrylic, Tempera, Alkyd |
Seema Shanti Kulkarni | San Juan Hills | Drawing: Pencils, Pens, Markers, Crayons, Silverpoint |
Nox Lane | Aliso Niguel | |
Lauren Melchor Riano | Aliso Niguel | Painting: Gouache and Color Pencil |
Erin Monahan | Aliso Niguel | Painting: Oils, Acrylic, Tempera, Alkyd |
Ivan Shaternik | Capistrano Valley | |
Dylan Alec Tam | Dana Hills | Carving |
Tess Vo | San Juan Hills | Painting: Watercolor, Gouache |
Arian Wong | Capistrano Valley | Drawing: Pencils, Pens, Markers, Crayons, Silverpoint |
Kelsey Yi | San Juan Hills | |
MEDIA ARTS | ||
Ares Alicajic | San Juan Hills | Digital Art |
Chloe Gangloff | San Juan Hills | Digital: Photoshop, Adobe Animate |
Charlie Sisley | Capistrano Valley |