High Life: A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : 17 From O.C. Make Cut in Talent Competition

Seventeen local high school students have been named semifinalists in the fifth annual Music Center Spotlight Awards competition.

The students, aged 14 to 18, were chosen from nearly 600 applicants from throughout Southern California who auditioned during November and December.

Semifinalists are given the opportunity to train with professional artists from the Music Center resident companies and other performing arts organizations in preparation for the next round of auditions.

The Spotlight Awards is a $45,000 performing arts scholarship competition in the fields of ballet, modern dance, opera, pop vocal, classical and jazz instrumental music. Two finalists in each category will perform at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on April 8. Winners in each category receive $5,000; runners-up $2,500.

Orange County’s semifinalists by categories:

* Ballet--Lisa Cheley, 17, from Westminster (Los Alamitos High School); Heather McColeb, 15, from Yorba Linda (Esperanza), and Rebecca Thompson, 15, from Huntington Beach (Ocean View).

* Modern dance--Angelique Christensen, 17, from Garden Grove (Bolsa Grande); Marci Montenegro, 17, from Westminster (Ocean View), and Haeran Park, 17, of Fullerton (Orange County High School of the Arts).

* Opera--Deborah Berk, 17, from Huntington Beach (Edison); Jennifer Bowen, 16, from San Clemente (San Clemente); Roger Giese, 17, from Huntington Beach (Edison), Christine Koo-Hyun Kim, 17, from Irvine (Irvine), and Amy Rodibaugh, 17, from Corona del Mar (Mater Dei).

* Pop vocal--Jessica Barney, 17, from Santa Ana (Saddleback), and Scott Cheek, 16, from Fullerton (OCHSA).

* Classical music--Asaf Blasberg, 15, from Brea (Brea-Olinda) on piano; Corinne Chapelle, 16, from Irvine (Oakmeadow, Ojai) on violin; Reina Inui, 14, from Anaheim (Villa Park) on violin, and Chiaying Lee, 16, from Fountain Valley (Fountain Valley) on piano.

“Concentration is the secret of strength.”--Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)