Students Step Into Spotlight

She didn’t sleep much the night before and her fingernails were bitten to the quick, but when it was all over, 16-year-old Zoe Abbott and her voice instructor were proud of the results. “It just clicked today,” she said happily. “My voice really freed itself up and we both felt really good about it.”

Zoe was one of nearly 30 high school students, most from the San Fernando Valley, competing for a Music Center Spotlight Award on Monday at Pierce College in Woodland Hills.

Sponsored by the Music Center of Los Angeles County, the competition brings together talented young dancers, singers and musicians who compete for a top prize of $5,000 and a chance to train with skilled artists in their fields.

“It’s actually a way to encourage performance arts in the high schools, to keep that alive,” said Alison Moore, spokeswoman for the Music Center. “A lot of these kids don’t have a chance to keep up their studies in the schools.”

Moore said the awards, co-sponsored by the Johnny Carson Foundation and the Pacific Telesis Foundation, would help inspire students to continue performing in light of reductions in arts education programs in Southern California high schools.

Since November, nearly 300 jittery performers from throughout Southern California have auditioned in music, dance and instrumental competitions at various sites.

“It’s a very mixed group,” Moore said of the performers. “Some of these kids are coming from some of the most well-known performing high schools. Some are coming from inner-city high schools. Some have years of training and others have innate ability.”

Zoe’s mother is a TV actress, and her father is a director and producer.

She has been performing since the age of 4, when “I played the head celery” in a preschool play, she said with a laugh and just a hint of preschool pride.

“There were three celery and I was the only celery that had lines.”

A junior at Chatsworth High School, Zoe sang “Tonight” from “West Side Story” in Monday’s competition. Her dream role is that of Maria, the play’s heroine. “I think the play is just beautiful,” she said. “I’ve seen the worst high school productions and I always cry.”

Tammy Matoba, 17, a senior at Chatsworth High, has had no formal training except in the school choir. She sang “Part of Your World” from “The Little Mermaid” in the competition.

“I would like to be a chiropractor or a professional singer,” she said. “My dreams are open.”

The 60 semifinalists will have a chance to participate in master classes taught by members of the Joffrey Ballet, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Bella Lewitsky dance group and other professionals. After the classes, 12 students--two in each of six categories--will perform in a competition held at the Music Center in February.

“It’s a mind-boggling thought,” Zoe said of the idea of performing at the Music Center.

First-place winners in each category will receive a $5,000 scholarship and runners-up will receive a $2,500 award.

The center also donates 2,500 tickets to area high schools to enable participants’ families and friends to see the competition.

“They probably wouldn’t come to the Music Center to see the opera, so they come to see their peers perform on stage,” Moore said. “It’s a way to introduce these kids to the performing arts to become patrons of the arts for years to follow.”

Semifinalists will be announced by the end of the week.

“I’ll be biting my nails,” Zoe said, “what’s left of them.”