ON YOUR WAY STUDENT WINNERS for 2011

FILMMAKING

Kimberly Greenwell

Denver School of the Arts, CO

My name is Kimberly Greenwell and I am currently a senior at Denver School of the Arts, majoring in video cinematography. Film, as an artistic medium, is one of the few things in this world that makes sense to me. The ability to capture, manipulate, and transform a moment in time so that it can be relived infinitely, is a beautiful experience to live for. As I have introduced myself to the industry and begun working on films, I have opened my mind in order to collaborate with a wide variety of people, and my work reflects my appreciation for those diversities. Although every new project is exciting, I'm always looking forward to the next time I can look through a camera lens with new ideas and opportunities to improve my work. Whether I am working independently and motivating my own films or working on an extensive crew with hundreds of job titles, I understand my responsibility in film and no matter what the task I know it must be accomplished flawlessly. I don't believe there is any idea that is too ambitious, or any idea too small or subtle to be created into a brilliant work of art. We live in a world of over six billion people - what better way to tell each of our stories than through the art of film?

MUSICAL THEATER/ACTING

Leah Mattfield
Interlochen Arts Academy, MI

Leah Mattfield, a junior Theatre Arts student at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. Leah has demonstrated a lifelong passion for performing, and has enjoyed numerous opportunities to perform with local theater companies and at community events, as well as in vocal competitions.

In addition to the On Your Way Student Talent Competition, and prior to joining the Interlochen community, Leah was honored to win several high school competitions during her freshman year in Alaska. Among these were the Anchorage Concert Chorus' Vocal Scholarship Competition, 1st place; NATS Alaska Vocal Competition, 1st place (Musical Theater), 2nd place (Classical); and Sing For Scholarships Musical Theater Competition, 1st place. She participated as principle (Alto I) in the Allstate Choir Music Festival, and was later chosen to represent the musical theater division of the Alaska State Solo & Ensemble Festival in a "command performance" concert. That May, at the final round of the Classical Singer High School Competition held in New York City, she realized her childhood dream of a scholarship offer to attend Interlochen Arts Academy the following school year.

Leah has continued to step out while at Interlochen, most recently as a musical theatre soloist at their Fall Collage Concert. She studies voice, sings in the Interlochen Arts Academy Choir, and serves as a sophomore mentor. When at home, she is equally happy singing voluntarily, whether at senior residences, her brother's baseball league openings, the Mayor's Dinner, Anchorage Saturday Market Stage, or with her dad's worship team in her home church. What Leah loves most is the ability to impact and bless an audience of any size, age or background. Removing someone's mind from worries and woes or providing inspiration to others through performing is what truly motivates her to continue working diligently toward a career in musical theater.

VISUAL ARTS

Marie Sommers

Chiarts, IL

Marie is the oldest in a family of six girls and has been developing her artistic skills from a very young age with drawing, painting, sewing and even cooking. Both her parents work in the arts and have encouraged and challenged her to develop strong rendering skills and a creative mindset. At the age of fourteen, she was accepted into the Chicago High School for the Arts, one of only 150 students in the landmark school's first year of offerings. She is currently a junior and striving to become a notable artist in the school's first graduating class.

Marie's primary focus has been figure work in acrylics, colored pencil and oils. Her work explores organic surfaces in a distressed, evolved form- challenging traditional notions of beauty and perfection.

Marie's artwork has been displayed in small galleries in Chicago and showcased in a pictorial by fashion photographer Monica Skeisvoll. She has won The Alliance for Young Artists Pre College scholarship at Minneapolis College of Art & Design in 2011, and several Scholastic Artist awards in 2010 and 2011. She is planning to continue her studies in painting and drawing, developing work which will allow her to attend a visual arts college of her choice after high school.

CLASSICAL VOICE

Ashley Traughber

High School for Performing and Visual Arts, TX

Ashley Traughber, a senior at High School for Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA), has been invited to join Houston Grand Opera's prestigious High School Voice Studio, a scholarship program for eight high school seniors. She most recently was selected as a Merit Award winner for YoungArts, a program of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. She is one of 64 vocalists to receive this designation out of the 5000+ who auditioned. Ms. Traughber has performed the role of "Child" in the premiere of the opera Simply Grimm for Lone Star Lyric Theatre Festival, as well as the role of "Girl Soprano" in the song cycle Pieces of 9/11 -Memories from Houston, by composer Jake Heggie and writer Gene Scheer, commissioned by Houston Grand Opera. Ms. Traughber was a Texas All-State Choir Member in 2011 and 2012 and the American Festival for the Arts Young Artist Competition Vocal Division winner in 2010. Her awards include Most Improved HSPVA Performer, HSPVA Outstanding Musicianship, and First Place winner in the Greater Houston National Association of Teachers of Singing (GHNATS) competition in 2010. Ms. Traugher has attended the American Festival for the Arts for three years and has been at HSPVA since her freshman year.