Young Artist Talent Search

NJPAC offers a variety of programs designed to instruct talented students. Actors, musicians, vocalists, dancers -- we're proud to nurture the next generation of performing artists. Here you'll learn about our arts training programs and how to apply to be part of the excitement.

Each year, NJPAC identifies some of the finest young performers in vocal music, instrumental music, theater, and dance at its Young Artist Talent Search. Students have the opportunity to audition for admission into numerous arts training programs: NJPAC's Wachovia Jazz for Teens, the Jeffrey Carollo Music Scholarship, the Star-Ledger Scholarship for Performing Arts, Young Artist Institute, and Summer Youth Performance Workshop. A preliminary screening is also done for the NJPAC/NJ Youth Theatre Summer Musical Program.

The application deadline for this year's Young Artist Talent Search has now passed. Auditions are scheduled for March 28 and 29, 2009.

If you have an audition scheduled for March 28 and/or 29, be sure you have read the Young Artist Talent Search brochure which outlines audition requirements for each program. You can download a copy of the brochure below. You can also download a copy of the Audition Process Packet which you received in the mail. It includes an explanation of what to expect at auditions, directions to NJPAC, and the 2009 Media Release form.

> Download Young Artist Talent Search brochure
> Download Star-Ledger Scholarship brochure
> Download Audition Process Packet

Sponsored by Independence Community Foundation & The Women's Association of NJPAC.

For more information about the Young Artist Talent Search, call (973) 353-8009 and press prompt 3.

Summer Youth Performance Workshop
Sponsored by The Turrell Fund & Independence Community Foundation

Summer Youth Performance Workshop is NJPAC's five-week, full-day program for artistically talented young people, ages 13-18. The program offers students the opportunity to study vocal music, theater and modern dance with professionals in each field. Classes are dedicated to giving each student focused, discipline-based instruction in all three disciplines. Guest artists and field trips augment each student's artistic experience. For more information, call 973-353-8009.

NJPAC's Wachovia Jazz for Teens

Sponsored by Wachovia, Surdna Foundation, Advance Reality Foundation, WBGO, and Andrew Vagelos
Created with NJ's own jazz radio, WBGO-Jazz 88.3 FM, NJPAC's Wachovia Jazz for Teens is a program designed to introduce teenage musicians to the excitement of jazz! Budding musicians work with professional jazz musicians in exploring the history, techniques, and styles of jazz through class work and performance. Jazz for Teens includes selected high school students who attend 20 full-day classes and concerts on Saturdays from Sept. through May. At the conclusion of the fall semester, students participate in a professional recording session. At the end of the spring semester, students perform in a concert that is open to the public. For more information, call 973-353-8009.

Young Artist Institute
Sponsored by Bank of America

The Young Artist Institute offers talented young New Jersey performers (ages 11 to 18) a place to study in an artistically rigorous yet nurturing environment, where they receive intensive technique training, personal assistance, encouragement, and helpful advice from professional artists. Courses are offered in acting, vocal music, and modern dance on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Each course meets ten times during the course of one semester. Two semesters are offered: Fall and Spring.

The Star-Ledger Scholarship for the Performing Arts

The Star-Ledger Scholarship for the Performing Arts is designed to provide higher education opportunities for the young people of Newark. This program enables NJPAC to identify, cultivate and train gifted, college-bound Newark high school seniors who demonstrate the potential to become leading arts professionals. Three merit-based scholarships are awarded for either $40,000 ($10,000 per year for four years) or $20,000 ($5,000 per year for four years). The scholarships support a 4-year education leading to the completion of a degree from an accredited undergraduate institution. The scholarships also provide the opportunity to gain practical experience through internships at NJPAC. For more information, call 973-353-8009.

The Jeffrey Carollo Music Scholarship

Sponsored by The Amelior Foundation & The MCJ Foundation
The NJPAC/Jeffrey Carollo Scholarship Program at the Newark School of the Arts (NSA) is made possible by the Amelior Foundation. Through a fund established in 1997 at the behest of Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Carollo in honor of their late son Jeffrey, a gifted musician, the Scholarship program has motivated talented young artists seeking an outlet for musical expression. The scholarships, administered by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center's Arts Education Department, provide additional comprehensive training in music for 12 students who enroll in the after-school music programs at the Newark Community School of the Arts. Classes include private lessons, music theory, music history, and ensembles. Students must be referred by their private music teacher or public music teacher, and must go through an audition process in order to qualify for the Carollo Scholarship. For more information, call 973-353-8009.

NJPAC/NJ Youth Theatre Summer Musical Program
Made possible in part by Richmond County Savings Foundation and the McCrane Foundation
NJPAC collaborates with the New Jersey Youth Theatre (formerly known as WYACT) to offer young people the opportunity to learn about musical theater first-hand by participating in its full-scale, professional-level Summer Musical Program. New Jersey Youth Theatre is a well-known nonprofit theater company whose primary purpose is to provide a high-quality education in the theatrical arts in both performing and technical areas to aspiring young thespians. The Young Artist Talent Search will serve as a preliminary screening of cast and orchestra applicants for the 2009 NJPAC/NJ Youth Theatre Summer Musical Program production of Sweeney Todd. For more information, or to receive a brochure on NJPAC's Arts Training Programs, call 973-353-8009.