STATE OF THE ART

Emmy Cheung (CMD, ‘22), Catherine Johnston (CV, ‘21), and Ava Kuntz (CV, ‘21) performed in The Music Center’s 33rd Annual Spotlight Grand Finale, a virtual presentation featuring the 14 Spotlight Finalists and hosted by Josh Groban. Out of a pool of more than 1,500 applicants, Emmy advanced to become the Grand Prize Finalist in the Dance category, while Catherine and Ava advanced to become Grand Prize Finalists in the Classical Voice category.

To view the virtual performance, please visit https://bit.ly/3uFnRHM

The following students received Gold or Silver National Awards in the annual Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

Gold National Awards:
Joyce Lee (VA, ‘21) - Drawing & Illustration, Nature's Unification
London San Luis (DM, ‘23) - Painting, Ocularity
Amy Wang (VA, ‘23) - Painting, Pajamas
Ally Wong (CW, ‘23) - Poetry, Springrolls

Silver National Awards:
Joyce Hong (VA, ‘22) - Drawing & Illustration, Recurrection
Hannah Kang (VA, ‘22) - Painting, Complexities of Skin UnderTones (Sequel)
Ashley Thornton (CW, ‘23) - Poetry, Catallena
Suofei Wang (VA, ‘21) - Drawing & Illustration, Tea Set
Ally Wong (CW, ‘23) - Poetry, On Lunar New Year; Short Story, Gutted
Kevin Yang (VA, ‘24) - Drawing & Illustration, The Upside Down World

The following students, as a part of the Orange County-based and internationally renowned All-American Boys Chorus, were selected to compete in the upcoming season of America's Got Talent.

Zaid Salazar (CV, ‘26)
Colin Savage (CV, ‘27)
Reid Winners (CV, ‘26)
Garrett Wirth (CV, ‘25)
Paxton Wong (CV, ‘25)
William Yu (CV, ‘26)

Cat Bui (CW, ‘22) was accepted into the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio Summer High School Writing Program.

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.

Hannah Cho (IM, ‘25) was one of only 15 oboists chosen from an international applicant pool to participate in the 2021 Juilliard Summer Winds program.

Sidney Muntean (CW, ‘22) was accepted into the Summer Workshop for Young Writers at the Kelly Writers House through the University of Pennsylvania.

The following members of the OCSA Debate Team placed at the High School Public Debate Program Bi-Coastal Championships.

Team Awards:
4th Overall - Melanie Huq (CW, ‘21), Melanie Kallah (IA, ‘21), and Isabel Lyons (IA, ‘22)

Individual Speaker Awards:
1st Place - Melanie Kallah (IA, ‘21), Debate Team President
6th Place - Melanie Huq (CW, ‘21)
8th Place - Isabel Lyons (IA, ‘22)
12th Place - Ashley Hodge (IA, ‘23)

Best Overall School:
3rd Place - Orange County School of the Arts

Violet Adams (VA, ‘24) was accepted to the California State Summer School for the Arts (CSSSA) for Visual Arts.

Artwork by Joyce Lee (VA, ‘21) and Ciel Mitrovich (VA, ‘24) was featured in an article by the Orange County Register, which focuses on how students have expressed themselves artistically during the pandemic.

To view the article, please visit https://bit.ly/3wPAtO0

Mia Willardson's (CW, ‘24) original poem, “Evenings With Yours Truly," was accepted for publication in the online magazine Words and Whispers.

Saira Arora (IM, ‘22) was accepted into the California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science (COSMOS), a highly competitive four-week STEM-based research program.

To read more about COSMOS, please visit https://bit.ly/3yWCutg

Ava Kuntz (CV, ‘21) received first place for the State of California at the Music Teachers’ Association of California (MTAC) San Diego Branch VOCE Competition. She also received first place in both the Classical and Musical Theater categories for ages 17-18 at the Vocal Organization of California VO-CAL Competition 2021.

Truanne Chen (IM, ‘24) was selected to play violin for the Southern California School Band & Orchestra Association (SCSBOA) 2021 High School Honor Orchestra. She also won fourth prize in the string category at the 2021 Music Scholarship Competition and received the Dozen Trust Fund Scholarship Award from the Music Teachers’ Association of California (MTAC) Los Angeles County Branch.

Lisa Ordonez (IA, ‘23) was accepted to participate in the Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, and Poetry course through the Stanford University Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes program.

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

Mia Soumbasakis (CW, ‘22) was awarded the Lion’s Heart Think of Others Before Yourself (TOBY) Award in honor of a variety of projects, including teaching creative writing to young students, making jewelry for foster children, and helping with food and clothing drives. The TOBY Award is a community service award given to an outstanding Lion’s Heart volunteer who has gone above and beyond in their community.

Brielle Lieberman (CMD, ‘26) and Brooklyn Lieberman (CMD, ‘26) participated in the Moderna trial for the COVID-19 vaccine and were featured in an article from Healthline.

To view the article, please visit https://bit.ly/3pae1fG

Michael Repper (IM, ‘08) was one of 15 conductors recognized by The Solti Foundation U.S. and selected as a 2021 recipient of The Sir Georg Solti Career Assistance Award.

To read the full press release, please visit https://conta.cc/2RdNJg0

Dante Basco (MT, ‘93) was featured in an article by San Francisco Chronicle Datebook about his upcoming film, The Fabulous Filipino Brothers.

To view the article, please visit https://bit.ly/3vNn6xK

Cassandra Hasio (CW, ‘17) and Soorim Lee (FTV, ‘17) created and launched a limited six-episode radio dramedy series podcast, titled Slam!, about a high school poetry team inspired by their time at OCSA. Please click here to listen.

Ralph S. Opacic, Ed.D., Founder and Executive Director, and Teren Shaffer, Executive Vice President, were featured in an article by the Los Angeles Times Daily Pilot. The article highlights Dr. Opacic’s recently announced retirement from OCSA and dedication to arts education, in addition to Mr. Shaffer’s appointment to the role.

Science instructor Christine Karlberg wrote an article titled "Drawing to Learn to Draw Out Science Understanding," which is slated to be published in the July/August issue of the National Science Teaching Association’s Science Scope magazine.

Alex Padilla (PD, ‘18), Production & Design Conservatory Arts Assistant, received the 2021 Outstanding Student Scholarly and Creative Activities Award from California State University, Fullerton (CSUF). The award recognizes excellence in student participation in research or creative activities. Alex was the undergraduate recipient for the CSUF College of the Arts and was selected in light of his sound design for the school’s production of Mozart's Don Giovanni.

Christine Choi, Special Services Administrative Assistant and conservatory instructor, was featured in an article by the Orange County Department of Education Newsroom about her recent Arts in Special Education Award recognition at the 2021 Orange County Music and Arts Awards. The Arts in Special Education Award honors an educator who delivers exceptional arts instruction to students with disabilities and fosters inclusion in their school community.