Watch the Final Presentation of the 2018 Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge | Playbill

Education News Watch the Final Presentation of the 2018 Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge Almost 200 high school-aged songwriters around the United States submitted songs for the competition from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The finalists for the 2018 Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge convened in New York to participate in a weekend of workshops with musicians, singers, songwriters, and producers. The weekend ended with a live-streamed performance of the six songs at The Green Space, judged by a panel of musical theatre professionals that included Jennifer Damiano, Tim Federle, Kamilah Forbes, Amanda Green and George Salazar. The competition received over 200 applications from high school composers in 36 states.

The finalists (five individual composers and one writing team) will each have their songs published by Samuel French, and the national champion received a $25,000 scholarship courtesy of the National Music Publishers Association’s S.O.N.G.S. (Supporting Our Next Generation of Songwriters) Foundation. The Second place $10,000 scholarship was presented by BMI and the third place $5,000 scholarship was presented by the Entertainment Industry Foundation.

Taking home the first place prize was David Volpini (2019) of Chippew Valley High School in Macomb, Michigan. In second place were Eliza Corrington (class of 2018) and Braxton Gerald Carr (2019) of DaVinci Academy in Ogden, Utah. In third place was Tucker Donelan (2018) of Berkshire School in Sheffield, Massachusetts.

The Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge is a national competition for high school students who have a passion for writing songs that could be part of a musical theater production. Partnering with the National Endowment for the Arts is the American Theatre Wing and collaborators Playbill Inc., Disney Theatrical Productions, and Samuel French

Here are the finalist’s songs:

“If I Lie Here”
Music & Lyrics by Fritz Hager
Mentored by J. Oconer Navarro
Music Directed by Benjamin Rauhala
Performed by: Daniel Quadrino and Rachel MacKenzie (vocals), Nicholas J. Oliveri and Sean Doherty (ensemble), Benjamin Rauhala (piano), David Cinquegrana (guitar), Philip Coiro (drums), Yair Evnine (cello), Sean Carney (violin)

“Lucky”
Music & Lyrics by Aaron Richert
Mentored by César Alvarez
Music Directed by Anna Ebbesen
Performed by: Clarke Thorell (vocals), Anna Ebbesen (piano), Justin Goldner (bass), Kiku Enomoto (Violin), Dillon Kondor (guitar), Marques Walls (drums)

“Ten Seconds to Infinity”
Music & Lyrics by Eliza Corrington & Braxton Carr
Mentored by Ty DeFoe and Tidtaya Sinutoke
Music Directed by Patrick Sulken
Performed by: Emily Ferranti and Jacob Keith Watson (vocals), Lou Garrett (guitar), Patrick Sulken (piano), Jerry DeVore (bass), Dan Berkery (drums), Steve Lyon (reeds), Jacob Yates (cello)

“Caleb’s Confession”
Music & Lyrics by Tucker Donelan
Mentored by Shakina Nayfack
Music Directed by Patrick Sulken
Performed by: Jamie Cepero (vocals), Larry Hamilton and Onyie Vivian Nwachukwu (ensemble), Patrick Sulken (piano), Lou Garrett (guitar), Jerry DeVore (bass), Dan Berkery (drums), Steve Lyon (reeds), Alex Bender (trumpet)

“Nothing at All”
Music & Lyrics by Jillian Guetersloh
Mentored by Anna K. Jacobs
Music Directed by Benjamin Rauhala
Performed by: Krystina Alabado (vocals), Benjamin Rauhala (piano), David Cinquegrana (guitar), Yair Evnine (cello), Sean Carney (violin)

“Day Number One”
Music & Lyrics by David Volpini
Mentored by Max Vernon
Music Directed by Anna Ebbesen
Performed by: F. Michael Haynie (vocals), Anna Ebbesen (piano), Justin Goldner (bass), Matt Hinkley (ukulele), Dillion Kondor (guitar), Marques Walls (drums)

 
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