STATE OF THE ART

The following students were recognized as 2021 YoungArts Winners by the National YoungArts Foundation for their artistic achievements. YoungArts award winners at all levels receive cash prizes between $100 and $10,000, and winners at the Finalist level are invited to participate in National YoungArts Week + in January, which features virtual classes, workshops, mentorship opportunities from leading artists in their fields, virtual performances, and an exhibition for the public.

Finalists:
Courtney Chiu (CCD, '23) – Dance (Modern/Contemporary)
Michele Lu (PM, '21) – Voice (Popular Voice)
Gianna Pedregon (IM, '21) – Jazz (Violin)

Honorable Mentions:
Maya Alvarez-Coyne (CMD, '21) – Dance (World Dance/Irish Step)
Laura Anne Chen (CW, '21) – Writing (Novel)
Michele Lu (PM, '21) – Voice (Singer-Songwriter)

Merit:
Laura Anne Chen (CW, '21) – Classical Music (Piano)
Wyatt Layton (CW, '23) – Writing (Spoken Word)
Brian Lin (IM, '21) – Classical Music (Saxophone)
Lauren Mei (ACT, '23) – Theater
Charlee Rubino (MT, '21) – Theater
Jonathan Truong (CW, '21) – Writing (Short Story)

Congratulations to the members of OCSA’s Mock Trial Team, who competed this year against more than 35 teams from across Orange County, advancing to the semifinals. The primary competition team was victorious against JSerra, Brea Olinda, Foothill, Santa Ana, Beckman, and Yorba Linda, while the secondary competition team defeated Portola and Mater Dei.

Primary Team:
Sophia Abiera (ACT, ‘24)
Sruthi Alle (CV, ‘21)
Catherine Boland (IA, ‘24)
Charlotte Brandman (MT, ‘23)
Riley Bryant (FTV, ‘21)
Edward Chen (IA, ‘24)
Gabriel Chen (PM, ‘22)
Ethan Gray (ACT, ‘22)
Sasha Herthel (ACT, ‘23)
Ashley Hodge (IA, ‘23)
Melanie Huq (CW, ‘21)
Toby Izenberg (CW, ‘23)
Milo Karnes (IA, ‘24)
Emma Kay (ACT, ‘23)
Regan Mading (IA, ‘23)
Mehra Marzbani (ACT, ‘23)
Morgan Milam (IM, ‘24)
Gaby Mikhail (CW, ‘21)
Daisy Noh (IA, ‘22)
Jess Perez (ACT, ‘21)
Paris Lases-Perez (ACT, ‘21)
Colin Root (ACT, ‘22)
Jocelyn Wang (PM, ‘23)

Secondary Team:
Ally Artavia-High (CW, ‘24)
Zabby Bagnol (PD, ‘24)
Daniel Grossgold (IA, ‘24)
McKenna Guldner (IA, ‘24)
Courtney Hines (CW, ‘24)
Darian Hojreh (CAH, ‘22)
Claire Karr (VA, ‘23)
Annabelle Kim (CW, ‘23)
Emily Kim (CW, ‘24)
Nathaniel Kim (DM, ‘22)
Sky Lu (IA, ‘23)
Kendall Phanco (VA, ‘23)
Mia Rinaldi (PM, ‘23)
Aryan Simhadri (ACT, ‘24)
Elora Sparnicht (CW, ‘23)
Luke Stark (IA, ‘24)

Caitlin Cheung (ACT, ‘21) was featured in a Dhar Mann Studios video, titled “Girl Hates Her Asian Culture,” about identity and being proud of your culture.
To view the full video, please visit https://bit.ly/2OZ6MsR

The OCSA Eye Matter Club, founded by Anjal Jain (CV, ‘22), was covered in an article by Voice of OC. The Eye Matter Club helps individuals with eye impairment to connect with each other through the arts. Eye Matter recently hosted online international art classes in nine different artistic disciplines for individuals with visual impairments. These art classes were taught completely by OCSA students and the visually impaired students' artistic performances were displayed during an international showcase. The following students are also members of the club.

Ritika Asher (CCD, ‘22)
Cece Fanelli (PD, ‘22)
Ava Gaskins (FTV, ‘22)
Stella Goodman (CV, ‘23)
Joyce Lee (CV, ‘22)
Delaney Manna (PD, ‘23)
Sarah Park (CV, ‘23)
Finley Sasena (CCD, ‘23)
Hailey Somphone (CV, ‘22)
Larkin Ten Elshof (CV, ‘22)
Grace Wilcox (ACT, ‘22)

Please view the article here: https://bit.ly/3dgeRDd

The Orange County Register announced the nominees for the 8th Annual Artist of the Year Award. This program highlights talented students across the county for their accomplishments in the arts. 750 students representing 78 Orange County high schools were nominated, and 50 of them are from OCSA! Each of these students have proven their abilities in their areas of expertise. Here are the nominations for Theater:

Acting:
Ariyah Brown (ACT, ‘21)
Sophia Del Rey (ACT, ‘21)
Justin Joung (MT, ‘21)
Mia Kaplan (MT, ‘21)
Taite Morrison (IA, ‘22)

Musical Theater Performance:
Madison E. Osment (MT, ‘21)
Charlee Rubino (MT, ‘21)
Arielle Leeah Schmid (MT, ‘21)

Aryan Simhadri (ACT, ‘24) was cast as the lead in the new Disney+ remake of Cheaper by the Dozen.

The OCSA Science Olympiad High School Team (Division C) competed in the Orange County Regional competition and placed in 14 of the 29 events. The team earned 6th place out of almost 40 schools and will advance to the Southern California State Science Olympiad competition. Team member Sameer Bajaj (ACT, ‘24) placed in all of his events.

1st Place
Codebusters: Anjal Jain (CV, ‘22), Joshua Qin (BR, ‘23), and Jeffrey Yang (CV, ‘24)

2nd Place
Digital Structures: Sameer Bajaj (ACT, ‘24) and Anjal Jain (CV, ‘22)
Amazing Mechatronics: Nathan Tatsuta (IM, ‘24) and Isabelle Tran (VA, ‘22)

3rd Place
Chiropterology: Kacy Chung (VA, ‘23) and Caleb Empig (IM, ‘23)
Circuit Lab: Nathan Tatsuta (IM, ‘24) and Joshua Qin (BR, ‘23)
Experimental and Data Analysis: Katherine Given (ACT ‘24), Joshua Qin (BR, ‘23), and Samantha Su (VA, ‘21),
Fermi Questions: Tane Kim (IM, ‘24) and Haley Shimabukuro (IM, ‘24)
Helicopters: Sameer Bajaj (ACT, ‘24) and Vivian Chen (IM, ‘23)
Game On: Katherine Given (ACT, ‘24) and Em Wei-Ten (PM, ‘23)
Geologic Mapping: Aleks Cornforth (CMD, ‘21) and Erica Yang (IA, ‘21)

4th Place
Algorithms and Heuristics: Nathan Tatsuta (IM, ‘24) and Em Wei-Ten (PM, ‘23)
Dynamic Planet: Jeffrey Yang (CV, ‘24) and Jiin Yun (IM, ‘24)
Gravity Vehicle: Sameer Bajaj (ACT, ‘24) and Joshua Qin (BR, ‘23)
Ornithology: Vivian Chen (IM, ‘23) and Caleb Empig (IM, ‘23)

Other Competitors
Amy Lee (IM, ‘23), Grant Li (CW, ‘23), Sara Shimabukuro (IM, ‘21), and Allison Wong (CW, ‘23)

Tisha Custodio (ACT, ‘19) was cast in a lead role in the upcoming Disney+ original series Big Shot.

The Orange County Register announced the finalists for the 8th Annual Artist of the Year Awards. The Artist of the Year program honors talented students across the county for their accomplishments in the arts.

Vocal Music - Commercial Voice
Ye Ji Kim (PM ‘21)

Vocal Music - Classical Voice
Catherine Johnston (CV ‘21)

Dance - Concert Dance
Corah Abbott (CCD, ‘21)

Dance - World/Cultural Dance
Maya Elizabeth Alvarez-Coyne (CMD, ‘21)

Handcrafted Visual Arts - Mixed Media
Junzhu Zhang (VA, ‘21)

Handcrafted Visual Arts - Sculpting and metalwork
Juhyun Park (VA, ‘21)

Film and Animation - Directing and Editing
Noah Frech (FTV, ‘21)

Instrumental Music - Winds and Percussion
Brian Lin (alto sax) (IM, ‘21)

Theatre - Acting
Ariyah Brown (ACT, ‘22)

The Orange County Register announced the winners for the 8th Annual Artist of the Year Awards, and OCSA had four winners this year! The Artist of the Year program honors talented students across the county for their accomplishments in the arts.

Artist of the Year Winners:
Nolan Hieu Trifunovic (FTV, ‘21) - Film and Animation
Catherine Johnston (CV, ‘21) - Vocal Music
Ariyah Brown (ACT, ‘22) - Theater
Brian Lin (IM, ‘21) - Instrumental Music (Alto Sax)

Sarah Anderson (MT, ‘22) and Zach Hoffman (ACT, ‘22) performed in an outdoor production of "Be More Chill" with Braver Players Musical Theater Foundation.

Alyssa Kardos (ACT, ‘17) was selected to be a 2021 Fulbright Scholar and was featured in an article by Georgetown University’s School of Nursing & Health Studies. The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program sends American scholars and professionals abroad to lecture or conduct research for up to one year. After graduating from Georgetown University this year, Alyssa will be teaching English in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

To view the article, please visit https://bit.ly/3uNC4TS

Tisha Custodio (ACT, ‘19) was featured in an article by the Orange County Register about her recent casting in a lead role of the Disney+ original series Big Shot.

To read the article, please visit https://bit.ly/2QihXhs

Devin Weaver (ACT, '26) was cast in a recurring role on the hit television series American Housewife and filmed multiple episodes. Devin also booked and filmed a role in a U.S. Census commercial.

Alyssa Abiera (ACT, ‘26) was cast as the voice of Young Li Na in the upcoming Sony Pictures Animation film "Wish Dragon", which will be released on Netflix.

Sisters Elora Sparnicht (CW, ‘23) and Kaya Sparnicht (ACT, ‘25) were awarded first place in the national RoundPier Student Playwriting Contest for their screenplay, titled Soft Landing.

Ava Tello (ACT, ‘24) was accepted into the UCLA Camera Acting Summer Institute, a virtual two-week, UC credit-bearing, intensive program that encompasses voice, scene study, storytelling, and on-camera acting training classes.

Bridget Phillips (MT, ‘22) and Jacki Vellandi (ACT, ‘22), both members of OCSA Thespian Troupe 6826, were selected to receive the highest award for playwriting by the International Thespian Society for their respective plays, Oakland and Reverie. They will work virtually with an experienced director and professional playwright to workshop their plays, which will be presented as staged readings during the International Thespian Festival in June.

Caitlin Cheung (ACT, ‘21) was cast in a lead role in the short film Sorry for the Inconvenience, directed by Jane Chow. The film was nominated for the Deutsche Bank Frieze Los Angeles Film Award and was selected to play at the Austin Asian American Film Festival and Girls in Film.

To watch the full short film, please visit https://bit.ly/2S0zfR7

Sophia Madrigal (ACT, '22) wrote a play, titled Wildflower: Indigenous Spirit, that was filmed live and recorded via Zoom with the help of OCSA alumnus Max Rogoff (FTV, '20). Sophia was also selected to speak at the United Nations Girls Speak Out event about her Girl Scout Gold Award project, "Healing Through the Indigenous Art of Storytelling."

Aryan Simhadri (ACT, '24) was cast in a lead role in the upcoming Disney Channel Original Movie Spin, about an Indian American teen who discovers her artistic side through the unique world of DJ culture.

Jacob Ferguson (ACT, '22) was cast as a tap dancer in the short film Human Hearts. The short film was a finalist in the Cinema Touching Disabilities Festival produced by the Salvation Army and was screened at the Awareness Festival in Los Angeles. It was also selected to screen at the Women’s Indie Film Festival in Los Angeles. To view the short film, please click here.

Logan Langevin (ACT, '23) was cast in a national tribute commercial for Nike.

To commemorate Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Isabella Madrigal (ACT, '20), her sister Sophia Madrigal (ACT, '22), and their mother, Renda, served as panelists to discuss modern Indigenous issues at a live streamed event hosted by OCSA's Leadership Class and the Building Bridges club. Isabella and Sophia are both members of the Cahuilla Band of Indians and are of Turtle Mountain Chippewa descent.

The following students participated as mentors in Musical Theater Matters, a community program with Segerstrom Center for the Arts that engages and supports children with special needs through musical theater.

Nikka Coetzee (IA, '23)
Sophia Gaba (MT, '23)
Ana Sofia Gomez Garza (MT, '25)
Mia Guillen (IA, '23)
Jonah Lee (MT, '23)
Phe McCullough (MT, '24)
Lauren Mei (ACT, '23)
Lisa Ordonez (IA, '23)
Hannah Osier (IA, '24)

The following students were recognized at the 15th Annual National Youth Arts Awards:

Sophia Del Rey (ACT, '21) won two Best Supporting Performance in a Musical awards for her roles as the Witch in Into the Woods and Tobias’ voice in Sweeney Todd.

Sophia Ruiz (MT, '23) won the award for Lead Performance in the Junior Division for her portrayal of Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins at The Arts & Learning Conservatory.

Marcus Brooks (MT, '23) was nominated for Lead Performance in the Junior Division for his portrayal of Bert in Mary Poppins at The Arts & Learning Conservatory.