Interlochen students and alumni honored in 2022 YoungArts competition

25 Academy students, 34 Camp alumni, and nine Interlochen Online alumni are among the 720 young artists who earned recognition in the prestigious national competition for high school artists.

An installation by visual artist Sophia Bassett

An installation from Sophia Bassett's senior thesis project, which was included in her prize-winning YoungArts portfolio.

Sophia Bassett's installation "My Sacrificial Home"

Sophia Bassett's installation "My Sacrificial Home," which was included in her YoungArts portfolio.

Twenty-five Interlochen Arts Academy students, 34 Arts Camp alumni, and nine Interlochen Online alumni are among the 720 young artists honored in the 2022 YoungArts competition. Winners are chosen for their caliber of artistic achievement by esteemed discipline-specific panels of artists through a rigorous blind adjudication process.

Presented annually by the National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists, the YoungArts competition identifies the most accomplished young artists ages 15-18 in 10 disciplines across the visual, written, and performing arts. Since 1981, more than 20,000 young artists have been recognized and supported through YoungArts, with notable alumni of the program including actors Timothée Chalamet, Kerry Washington, and Viola Davis and rapper, singer, and songwriter Nicki Minaj.

YoungArts winners are announced in three categories: Finalist, Honorable Mention, and Merit. Winners at all levels receive cash prizes between $100 and $10,000. In addition to monetary awards, all winners receive a medallion, a lifetime of creative and professional support, and access to YoungArts Post—a private, online portal for YoungArts artists to connect, share their work, and discover new opportunities.

Finalists in their senior year of high school are also eligible to be nominated for U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts—one of the nation’s highest honors for high school students. Since the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was founded in 1964, 48 Interlochen Arts Academy students have been selected as presidential scholars—more than any other high school in the nation.

Finalists

  • Sophia Bassett (IAC 12, 14, 18-19, IAA 20-), Visual Arts
  • Joshua Brown (IO 20, IAA 21-), Theatre
  • Catya Carrington (IAA 17-), Voice (Classical)
  • Niveah Glover (IAC 21), Spoken Word
  • Grace Grammins (IO 21), Singer-Songwriter
  • Aspen Jacobsen (IAA 20-), Singer-Songwriter
  • Jessica Kodsi (IAC 18, IAA 18-), Voice (Classical)
  • Kyra Li (IAC 22), Short Story
  • Arayah Lyte (IAC 19), Dance (Modern-Contemporary)
  • Kashvi Ramani (IAC 19), Theatre
  • Benjamin Riveron (IAC 18), Voice (Classical)

Honorable Mentions

  • Henry Berberi (IO 20), Saxophone (Jazz)
  • Ellie Brenner (IAA 20-), Theatre
  • Calista Case (IAC 18-19), Voice (Classical)
  • Aida Colvin (IO 20), Novel
  • Eloise Fox (IAC 17), Voice (Classical)
  • Giovanna Gioscia (IAC 19), Saxophone
  • Lila Hasenstab (IAC 17), Singer-Songwriter
  • Abigail Hong (IO 20), Oboe
  • Jenny Hu (IAC 19), Creative Nonfiction
  • Sanjana Khurana (IAC 16), Voice (Popular)
  • Oliver Koenig (IAC 19), Saxophone (Jazz)
  • Amelia Krinke (IAC 17), Viola
  • Sidney Lee (IAC 18), Viola
  • Christian Luevano (IAC 12), Double Bass
  • Mia McManamy (IAC 16, 19, IAA 20-21), Theatre
  • Kimberly Nelson (IAC 21, IAA 21-), Trombone
  • Tess O’Brien (IO 20), Short Story
  • Aiko Offner (IO 20), Creative Nonfiction
  • Isabelle Orr (IAC 19), Play or Script
  • Diego Pena (IAC 17-19, IAA 21-), Bassoon
  • Sophie Pollono (IAC 21), Theatre
  • William Scarrow (IAC 17-19), Voice (Classical)
  • William Schwartzman (IAC 17-18, 21), Piano (Jazz)
  • Kaleb Zhu (IAC 19, IAA 20-), Oboe
  • Madeleine Zuckerman (IAA 20-), Voice (Classical)

Merit

  • Antonio Ajero (IAC 21), Piano
  • Emily Baird (IAC 22, IAA 22-), Singer-songwriter
  • Talia Czuchlewski (IO 20), Voice (Classical)
  • Jonah Cohen (IAC 19, IAA 20-), Music Composition
  • Mackenzie Collins (IAC 18-19, 21, IAA 21-), Voice (Classical)
  • Samantha Cronin (IAA 19-), Singer-Songwriter
  • Owen Dudney (IAC 21), Novel
  • Neva Ensminger (IAA 20-), Writing (Novel)
  • Feiye Fan (IAC 17), Design Arts
  • Sydney Feldman (IAC 17-18, IO 20), Flute
  • Vincent Garcia-Hettinger (IAC 18), Cello
  • Lydia Hanje (IAC 19, IAA 20-), Trumpet
  • Finn Hansbury (IAC 21, IAA 21-), Singer-Songwriter
  • Willa Hawthorn (IO 20), Composition
  • William Hill III (IAC 17-18), Piano (Jazz)
  • Eugene Hong (IAC 21), Piano
  • Jackson Kaiser (IAC 13-17, IAA 19-), Music Composition
  • Heather Kim (IAC 21), Flute
  • Angela Kwak (IAA 21-), Film
  • Christian Lee (IAC 18), Clarinet
  • Eliot Lee (IAC 18), Double Bass
  • Sophia Liu (IO 20), Poetry
  • Wyatt McDaniel (IO 20, IAA 20-), Theatre
  • Ingrid McDuffee (IAC 19, IO 20), Flute
  • Olufela Rodriguez (IAC 21), Visual Arts
  • Taki Salameh (IAC 19, IAA 19-), Music Composition
  • Grace Schlett (IAA 21-), Writing (Poetry)
  • Genevieve Skatoff (IAC 21, IAA 21-), Flute
  • Jaelyn Stevens (IAA 20-), Singer-Songwriter
  • Aidan Taylor (IAC 18), Double Bass (Jazz)
  • Ava Ulloa (IAC 19), Voice (Popular)
  • Olivia Walker (IAC 17, IAA 18-), Visual Arts
  • Ari Webb (IAC 18), Cello
  • Erin Yu (IAC 19, IO 20), Piano
  • Eric Zhang (IAC 18), Piano