STATE OF THE ART

Hannah MacDonald (CAH, ‘18) was selected to work as a project coordinator for Jacobs Doland Beer, the largest food service design firm in the United States.

Aryan Simhadri (ACT) was cast in the lead role of Grover in “Percy Jackson & the Olympians,” coming soon to Disney+.

Christopher Cung (IM, ‘22) won the 2021 Chamber Music Competition at Mount St. Mary’s University and was awarded a $700 cash prize.

Ysabel Wilhoit (CV, ‘23) won the Director’s Award from the Southern California Children’s Chorus.

President & CEO Teren Shaffer was featured in “Modern Luxury” magazine’s “The Power List,” which features the top 50 trailblazers in leadership from Orange County. To read his feature, please visit: https://bit.ly/3Occmlf

Lucie Kim (IM, ‘24) was selected to perform in The Pacific Club’s Emerging Artist Performance Series.

Geena Meyhoefer (CAH, ‘17) was hired as the meetings & events manager at The Colonnade Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts.

Analiese Bancroft (PM, ‘21) co-authored a paper published by the Institute of Physics Science Journal on nanotechnology, titled "Pristine carbon nanotubes are efficient absorbers at radio frequencies." Additionally, she had the opportunity to meet with Bill Nye and Nobel Prize winner Frances Arnold.

Ethan Leung (DM, ‘23) was accepted to the California State Summer School for the Arts (CSSSA) for animation.

Chemistry Instructor Heather Jonson was the recipient of the 2022 Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation Educator of Distinction Award.

Raven Alanes (CMD, ‘23) worked on the Symphonies for Schools: Music & Deafness program for the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Zach Hoffman (ACT, ‘22) and Sadie Braverman (ACT, ‘23) performed as Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett respectively in Braver Players Theater Company’s production of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”

Gabriella Saraivah (IA, ‘23) was cast in the lead role of Carol in “Tudo Igual... SQN,” coming soon to Disney+ Brasil.

The BingYi Saxophone Quartet has been chosen to advance to the Junior Wind Division Quarterfinals of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the largest and longest running chamber music competition in the nation, held in South Bend, Indiana. The following students are members of this ensemble.

Aidan Luu (IM, ‘23)
Ryan Nicolov (IM, ‘22)
Luke Toner (IM, ‘24)
Darren Qiu (IM, ‘24)

Michael Repper (IM, ‘08) recorded an album with New York Youth Symphony which hit #1 on the Billboard Chart.

A photo of Hannah Franklin (ACT, ‘19) was selected to be displayed in the lobby of the Ahmanson Theater at The Music Center in Los Angeles. The photo is from Hannah’s winning performance in the 2018 National August Wilson Monologue Competition.

Nathaniel Bowman Sindt (BCD, ‘22) earned the rank of Eagle Scout from Troop 90 of the Boy Scouts of America. He is the 250th Eagle Scout in the Orange County Council.

Katie Derr (CAH, ‘16) was recognized as one of University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ (UNLV) outstanding graduates and competed on UNLV’s Solar Decathlon team where she was able to work on projects that educate people about sustainable sourcing and food waste. She also opened Rebel Grounds, an environmentally friendly coffee shop at UNLV. Katie was honored with Sigma Kappa Sorority’s 35 Under 35 Award, which recognizes 35 women under the age of 35 who are making a difference.

Jadon Han (CW, ‘25) competed and earned third place at the Western United States Pipe Band Association Scottish Festival. He competed in the Grade 4 Piper (ages 17 and under) and was awarded third place in the 2/4 March category of the solo competition, playing "King George V's Army.”

Caleb Empig (IM, ‘23) was accepted to Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute Young Artists Piano Program.

Stephen Goeres-Hill (CV, ‘23) was cast to play the lead role of Ned Schneebly in the Conservatory of Performing Arts upcoming production of "School of Rock" at the Camino Real Playhouse.

Aashna Rana (CV, ‘23) was elected to be the Junior State of America Governor for the Southern California Region for a yearlong term.

Paige Oden, Director of the Visual Arts Conservatory, has been selected to receive the 2022 Arts Schools Network (ASN) Teacher of the Year Award. Additionally, Dante Basco (MT, ‘93) received the 2022 ASN Outstanding Arts School Alumni Achievement Award, which honors an individual whose commitment to excellence is demonstrated through outstanding accomplishments in the areas of citizenship, arts, and academics.

Doyeon (Jennifer) Kim (VA, ‘25) was named the winner of the 2022 CA-39 Congressional Art Competition. Her winning artwork, titled “A Soulful Night Market,” was selected to be displayed in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, DC for one year.

The following students were named semifinalists for National Merit Scholarships. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation selected more than 16,000 semifinalists who are competing nationally for nearly $28 million in scholarships, which will be awarded next spring.

Ashley Hodge (IA, ‘23)
Yoojung (Sally) Jang (CW, ‘23)
Yoojin Jo (IM, ‘23)
Amber Khauv (CW, ‘23)
Grant Li (CW, ‘23)
Sarah Parigela (IM, ‘23)
Joshua Qin (BD, ‘23)
Clara Son (CW, ‘23)
Allison Wong (CW, ‘23)
Evan Wu (IM, ‘23)

Lauren Kimball (VA, ‘24) and Vivika Saravanan (CV, ‘24) were named semifinalists in Classical Voice at the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS)’s National Student Auditions and were selected to compete at the NATS National Conference in Chicago.

The following students participated in the National ProStart Invitational in Washington, D.C., competed against the top 40 management teams from all over the nation, and received ninth place.

Chef Paola Costa, Coach
Evelyn Wu (CAH, ‘23), Captain
Lanna Gale (CAH, ‘23)
Sam Laven (CAH, ‘23)
Willie Yao (CAH, ‘24)

The following students were selected as regional semifinalists in the Coca-Cola Scholars Program in recognition of their leadership, service, and academics, as well as their efforts to positively affect others in their community. Winners will be selected to receive a $20,000 college scholarship and to join a network of more than 6,000 Coca-Cola Scholar alumni that encourage, challenge, and support each other in their common goal of making the world a better place.

Yoojin Jo (IM, ‘23)
Seoyun Kang (VA, ‘23)
Annabelle Kim (CW, ‘23)
Sarah Parigela (IM, ‘23)
Joshua Qin (BR, ‘23)
Allison Wong (CW, ‘23)

The following students received the National Recognition Program Award from two of the four College Board recognition programs that award academic honors to underrepresented students.This award recognizes their academic achievements and outstanding performances on the PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT 10, and/or AP Exams.

National African American Recognition Award
Kayalani Degrave (MT, ‘23)
Ayanna Dowell (CMD, ‘23)
Aurelia Philmore (BD, ‘24)

National Hispanic Recognition Award
Sabrina Aguilar (DM, ‘23)
Maya Bleszinski (MT, ‘23)
Analise Delp (CW, ‘24)
Maya Ferchaw (ACT, ‘24)
Abril Garcia (CW, ‘23)
Mia Guillen (IA, ‘23)
David Llenderrozos (CW, ‘23)
Alexa Nunez Magana (MT, ‘23)
Ava Tello (ACT, ‘24)
Arianna Torres (CW, ‘23)
Candace Ramirez (VA, ‘23)
Sophia Ruiz (MT, ‘23)

The following students were recognized as 2023 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. All YoungArts Finalists are also invited to participate in National YoungArts Week where they collaborate with peers and develop their crafts with internationally recognized leaders in their fields.

Finalists:
Edward Chen (IA, ‘24) – Dance (Hip Hop)
Hannah Cho (IM, ‘25) – Classical Music (Oboe)
Amy Jong (IM, ‘24) – Classical Music (Violoncello)
Caroline Kim (VA, ‘25) – Design Arts
Ashley Park (CW, ‘23) – Writing (Spoken Word)
Joan Park (PM, ‘23) – Voice (Popular (Pop)

Honorable Mentions:
David Du (FTV, ‘24) – Film (Animation)
Ella Gibson (PM, ‘23) – Voice (Popular (Pop))
Olivia Le (CW, ‘25) – Writing (Spoken Word)
Amelie Muro (FTV, ‘22) – Film (Experimental)
Ava Ulloa (PM, ‘22) – Voice (Popular (Pop))
Jocelyn Wang (PM, ‘23) – Voice (Singer-Songwriter)

Merit:
Caleb Empig (IM, ‘23) – Classical Music (Piano)
Heather Kim (IM, ‘24) – Classical Music (Flute)
Katerina Malabarba (CW, ‘24) – Writing (Novel)
Maraia Mariselli (PM) – Voice (Singer-Songwriter)
Mehra Marzbani (ACT, ‘23) – Theater (Spoken Only)
Nathan Tatsuta (IM, ‘24) – Jazz (Piano)
Ava Ulloa (PM, ‘22) – Voice (Jazz)
Cheungwan Wang (VA, ‘23) – Visual Arts

The following Classical Voice Conservatory students performed in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Student Evaluation Program. They participated through the Los Angeles chapter, which received hundreds of submissions. The students received the following awards:

Classical:

6th-8th Youth (Ages 11-12)
Second Place: Simran Goyal (CV, ‘28)
Third Place: Leitan (Julia) Zhou (CV, ‘28)

6th-8th Youth (Ages 12-14)
First Place: Reese Guenther-Clark (CV, ‘27)
Honorable Mention: Leila Woodward (CV, ‘27)

9th-10th Grade Treble
First Place: Sydney Sublette (CV, ‘26)
Second Place: Mona George (CV, ‘25)

9th-10th Grade Tenor/Baritone/Bass
First Place: Jack Wilson (CV, ‘25)
Second Place: Michael Morris (CV, ‘26)
Third Place: James Conroy (CV, ‘25)
Honorable Mention: Henry Courtney (CV, ‘26)

11th-12th Grade Treble
First Place: Mia Baron (CV, ‘23)
Second Place: Viveka Saravanan (CV, ‘24)
Third Place: Lilliana Mindel (CV, ‘24)
Honorable Mention: Jaidyn Portanova (CV, ‘23)

11th-12th Grade Tenor/Baritone/Bass
First Place: Jeffery Yang (CV, ‘24)
Second Place: Sebastian Nunez (CV, ‘24)

The following Classical Voice Conservatory students performed in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Student Evaluation Program. They participated through the Los Angeles chapter, which received hundreds of submissions. The students received the following awards:

Musical Theater:

6th-8th Youth (Ages 12-14)
Second Place: Leila Woodward (CV, ‘27)
Honorable Mention: Cadence Bleakley (CV, ‘27)

9th-10th Grade Treble (Group 1)
First Place: Xianger Fang (CV, ‘26)

9th-10th Grade Treble (Group 2)
First Place: Sydney Sublette (CV, ‘26)
Third Place: Sky Keyoung (CV, ‘25)
Honorable Mention: Mona George (CV, ‘25)

9th-10th Grade Tenor/Baritone/Bass
Honorable Mention: Garrett Wirth (CV, ‘25)

11th-12th Grade Treble (Group 1)
Second Place: Viveka Saravanan (CV, ‘24)
Third Place: Lilliana Mindel (CV, ‘24)

11th-12th Grade Treble (Group 2)
Second Place: Mia Baron (CV, ‘23)
Honorable Mention: Jaidyn Portanova (CV, ‘23)

Avery Mizrahi (IA, ‘24) was recognized as a National Science Foundation Fellow at the University of California, Irvine where she presented her preliminary research, which hopes to find a biomarker for Alzheimer's disease. Avery was part of a cohort of undergraduate Fellows that flew in from around the country to work in various neuroscience labs with star mentors over the summer.

JJ Barton (PM, ‘26) signed his first commercial music contract to sing the title track of a brand-new cartoon, “Monster Loving Manics.” The cartoon is currently being aired all across Europe. JJ and his rock band “Duct Tape,” of which he is the lead singer, also played their first sold-out gig at Campus Jax in Newport Beach. Additionally, JJ was cast in his second Dhar Mann short film, titled “Kid Gets Sent to Military School.”

Yoojung (Sally) Jang (CW, ‘23) was awarded the $2,000 Outstanding High School Project Award in the national Lowell Milken Center (LMC) Discovery Awards for her project, titled “A Voice in the Dark: Kim Hak-Sun’s Breakthrough Comfort Women Testimony.”

Allison Wong (CW, ‘23) was featured in a Spectrum News 1 segment about how she designed a 40-page coding booklet for underserved children at KidWorks in Santa Ana. To view the segment, please visit: https://bit.ly/3B5q9pw

The following Strings & Orchestra students, alumni, as well as Program Coordinator Dr. Nicolaus Yee, performed in the season finale of “The Masked Singer” alongside the final act.

Kiana Alvarez (IM, ‘21)
Shawn Berry (IM, ‘16)
Joshua Cua (IM, ‘24)
Michael Fleming (IM, ‘12)
Jason Galantine (IM, ‘20)
Raija Hammad (IM, ‘23)
Shayna Kaplan (IM, ‘23)
Liam Ramos (IM, ‘24)
Matthew Teng (IM, ‘20)
Eleas Vrahnos (IM, ‘20)
Christopher Ye (IM, ‘17)

Broderick (Brody) Yun (MT, ‘28) was cast in the role of Nico in the hit series “Cocomelon” on Netflix and YouTube.

Hannah Cho (IM, ‘25) received the silver medal and $2,000 cash award from the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition. She also competed in the Midwest Double Reed Society’s Eric Varner Young Artist Competition and was awarded first place in the high school oboe division. Hannah also received the Katherine Needleman Scholarship and performed in this year’s All-National Honor Symphony and Carnegie Hall NYO2 Orchestra.

Randy Au, Assistant Director of the Visual Arts Conservatory, was featured in an article by Stu News Newport about his ceramic vegetable art exhibit currently on display at John Wayne Airport. To read the full article, please visit: https://bit.ly/3VHn0E4

Ashley Hodge (IA, ‘23) performed the lead role of Ariel in “The Little Mermaid” at The Music Room School of Performing Arts.

William Chung (PD, ‘26) received the Best Player Award at the Education for Next Generation Organization (ENGO) Scholarship Junior Kendo Championship. He competed in the 12-13 year-old Individual and Team Best Five divisions and won a total of $300 in scholarships.

Lauren Chudner (VA, ‘23) and Faith Hochgesang (IA, ‘23) both earned perfect scores on the 2022 AP Research exam. Of the roughly 29,000 students who took the exam only 306 earned every point available on their paper, presentation, and oral defense. These students are officially in the highest scoring 1% of researchers.

Thea Larsen (IA, ‘23) received first place in the California Association of Collectors Educational Scholarship Foundation (CACESF) essay writing competition out of over 1,700 applicants and also was named a CACESF Scholarship State Champion.

Aashna Rana (CV, ‘23) was selected to speak at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Education Conference in Austin, Texas. SXSW celebrates the convergence of technology, film, music, education, and culture and is one of the largest globally attended conferences in the world. Aashna was chosen along with three other Junior Statesmen of America (JSA) Governors to speak about how Gen Z takes part in advocacy.

Luna Zamora (CV, ‘24) was awarded the President’s Gold Volunteer Service Award from The White House.

Remy Hall (IA, ‘22) was featured in the Orange County Register for painting a mural on a set of handball courts at Eader Elementary School in Huntington Beach.

Kalia Lagbao (IA, ‘27) was chosen to perform at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America Pacific Region Conference in Huntington Beach.

Luke McGarry (VA, ‘05) was featured on a segment of KCAL9 News to talk about his career in animation. To watch the full segment, please visit: https://bit.ly/3VPvqcW

Sophie Cheng (PD, ‘24) received third place at the International Federation of Aesthetic Group Gymnastics (IFAGG) Junior Tuah Cup and sixth place at the IFAGG Junior World Cup.

Erin Tardibuono (MT, ‘25) and Nava Tate (MT, ‘27) were cast and performed as the Coroner of Munchkin City and the Mayor of Munchkin City respectively in a production of “The Wizard of Oz,” presented by the Tustin Area Council for Fine Arts, in cooperation with Lythgoe Family Productions.

Skyler Tran (IM, ‘28) and Sterling Tran (IM, ‘27) traveled to Toronto to accept awards from the Rocky Mountain Music Competition and perform live at the York University.

Emi Yoshino (PD, ‘20) was selected to serve as the assistant stage manager for an event featuring Al Pacino, titled Pacino One Night Only.

Tennessee Freese (IM, ‘27), Cash Lane (IM, ‘25), Maverick Lane (PM, ‘27), Max Rossini (PM, ‘25), and their band, Youthanize, were chosen to play on the main stage at the 2023 National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Show.

Irene Son (VA, ‘25) received a Blue Ribbon and the Judges’ Award from the Orange County Fair Fine Art Competition for her painting, titled “Wildlife’s Home.”

Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) has been ranked by Niche as the #1 Best Charter High School in California for the fourth year in a row, as well as the #6 Best Charter High School in America! Please visit https://bit.ly/3D8R02u to view all the 2023 rankings for OCSA. We would like to express our gratitude to all the students, teachers, and staff who continue to make OCSA exceptional.

Eli Raskin (MT, ‘12) was selected to be a Sundance 2022 Producing Fellow. Eli was also featured in an article by The Wrap about the artists selected for the Sundance Producing Lab and Summit. To read the full article, please visit: https://bit.ly/3Vt5rbk

Cynthia Huang (CW, ‘24) earned the $7,500 Grand Prize for the We the Students Scholarship Essay Contest, out of 4,000 entries nationally. Cynthia was also featured in an article in the Irvine Standard. To read the full article, please visit: https://bit.ly/3gPhyR6

Nathaniel Sprague (IM, ‘26) placed second in piano at the Music Teachers Association of California (MTAC) Concerto Competition, held at Chapman University.

Irene Son (VA, ‘25) received the Judges Award in the painting category at the Orange County Fair and also received The Korea Daily CEO Award for her piece, “Anxious Future.”