The Orange County Register announced the list of nominees for the annual Artist of the Year program, and CUSD had 88 students nominated in the seven categories. There will be 16 semifinalists in each discipline named on April 23, followed by the winners and finalists named on April 30.
Students were chosen by a panel of teachers based on written statements, performance videos or design portfolios, and artistic resumes. 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.
Orange County high school Artist of the Year nominees announced (OC Register)
| Name | School | Specialty |
| DANCE | ||
| Nyah Grande | San Juan Hills | Commercial Dance |
| Summer Lyn Lewis | San Juan Hills | Commercial Dance |
| Abby Owen | Capistrano Valley | Commercial Dance |
| Danica Robertson | San Juan Hills | Commercial Dance |
| Tatum Bolton | San Juan Hills | Concert Dance |
| Hannah McCabe | San Juan Hills | Concert Dance |
| Kaya Tretter | San Juan Hills | Hip-Hop |
| FILM & TV | ||
| Rozhina Akbari | Capistrano Valley | Film Directing |
| Evan Nowack | Capistrano Valley | Film Directing |
| INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC | ||
| Ava Thorlin | Capistrano Valley | Jazz |
| Evan Toner | Capistrano Valley | Jazz |
| Laili Aissi | Tesoro | Piano |
| Aspen Kinomoto | Capistrano Valley | Strings |
| Kira Likar | Capistrano Valley | Strings |
| Marenna Spieker | Capistrano Valley | Strings |
| Carina Wang | Tesoro | Strings |
| Alex Zhao | Capistrano Valley | Strings |
| Ivy Duston | Capistrano Valley | Winds & Percussion |
| Aaron Zambrano | Capistrano Valley | Winds & Percussion |
| Quinn Dimalanta | Tesoro | World/Cultural and Commercial Music |
| Sarah Espinoza | Capistrano Valley | World/Cultural and Commercial Music |
| Ramon Nacpil | Capistrano Valley | World/Cultural and Commercial Music |
| Andrew Nunez | Capistrano Valley | World/Cultural and Commercial Music |
| Miguel Angel Tiscareno | Capistrano Valley | World/Cultural and Commercial Music |
| VOCAL MUSIC | ||
| Selma Elbalalesy | Aliso Niguel | Classical Voice |
| Melody Hancock | Tesoro | Classical Voice |
| Julia Tonai | San Juan Hills | Classical Voice |
| Lauren Trustee | Tesoro | Classical Voice |
| Samantha Babasa | Tesoro | Cultural and Commercial Voice |
| Alyssa Castellano | Capistrano Valley | Cultural and Commercial Voice |
| Leah Cook | San Juan Hills | Cultural and Commercial Voice |
| Raveena Khetarpal | San Clemente | Cultural and Commercial Voice |
| Donya Moaddeli | Dana Hills | Cultural and Commercial Voice |
| Mersaydes Soria | Capistrano Valley | Cultural and Commercial Voice |
| Gabriel Tiscareno | Capistrano Valley | Cultural and Commercial Voice |
| Natalia Vassilian | Tesoro | Cultural and Commercial Voice |
| Karina Yousuf | Capistrano Valley | Cultural and Commercial Voice |
| Gabriella Zuniga | San Juan Hills | Cultural and Commercial Voice |
| Lauren Bodnar | Dana Hills | Musical Theatre Voice |
| Daisy Kopenhefer | San Clemente | Musical Theatre Voice |
| Christian McCleary | San Clemente | Musical Theatre Voice |
| Maiya Stigall | Capistrano Valley | Musical Theatre Voice |
| THEATER | ||
| Alysse Camelot | Tesoro | Acting |
| Deven Grover | Tesoro | Acting |
| Ryland Henderson | Capistrano Valley | Acting |
| Caitlin Kampff | Tesoro | Acting |
| Raveena Khetarpal | San Clemente | Acting |
| Riley Kluczynski | Aliso Niguel | Acting |
| Daisy Koprowski | Capistrano Valley | Acting |
| Christian McCleary | San Clemente | Acting |
| Austyn Perrone | Dana Hills | Acting |
| Noah Reynen | Capistrano Valley | Acting |
| Kristina Sabad | San Juan Hills | Acting |
| Shay Seymour | Aliso Niguel | Acting |
| Maceo Vadas | Tesoro | Acting |
| Sophia White | San Juan Hills | Acting |
| Mckenze Cahill | Capistrano Valley | Musical Theater Performance |
| Griffin Croft | San Clemente | Musical Theater Performance |
| Selma Elbalalesy | Aliso Niguel | Musical Theater Performance |
| Molly Anne-Cisneros Fineberg | Tesoro | Musical Theater Performance |
| Lisa Gnielinski | San Juan Hills | Musical Theater Performance |
| Brianna Graves | Aliso Niguel | Musical Theater Performance |
| Annika Green | Dana Hills | Musical Theater Performance |
| Liv Hottinger | San Clemente | Musical Theater Performance |
| Peyton Kirkner | San Juan Hills | Musical Theater Performance |
| Grace Nachreiner | San Clemente | Musical Theater Performance |
| Evan Nowack | Capistrano Valley | Musical Theater Performance |
| Lauren Rigby | Tesoro | Musical Theater Performance |
| Alexa Roemer | San Juan Hills | Musical Theater Performance |
| Layna Samuelsen | San Clemente | Musical Theater Performance |
| Natalia Vassilian | Tesoro | Musical Theater Performance |
| Miranda Young | Tesoro | Musical Theater Performance |
| Aidan Biggs | San Juan Hills | Theatrical Design |
| Isabel Cravens | Aliso Niguel | Theatrical Design |
| Jackson D. Garcia | Capistrano Valley | Theatrical Design |
| Alyssa Ivory | Capistrano Valley | Theatrical Design |
| Leilani Obana | San Juan Hills | Theatrical Design |
| Owen Pasternak | San Juan Hills | Theatrical Design |
| Giavanna Tunnell | Aliso Niguel | Theatrical Design |
| Olivia White | Dana Hills | Theatrical Design |
| FINE ARTS | ||
| Kason Huynh | Capistrano Valley | Ceramics |
| Saki Johnson | Capistrano Valley | Ceramics |
| Valeria Romero | Capistrano Valley | Painting |
| MEDIA ARTS | ||
| Theo Green | Capistrano Valley | Digital Illustration |
| Nyaa Lehnhardt | Capistrano Valley | Game Art |
| Ryan Leuenberger | Capistrano Valley | Motion Graphics and Animation |