Celebrate the 2012 U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts!
 Next week, the 2012 U.S. Presidential Scholars will be honored in Washington D.C. during National Recognition Weekend. The 141 Scholars, including 20 Scholars in the Arts nominated by YoungArts, will travel to Washington, DC to meet with government officials, educators, authors, musicians and other accomplished individuals. For a talented graduating high school senior, inclusion in the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon them. Congratulations to our Scholars in the Arts, and to their parents, teachers and mentors that support them!
To commemorate their achievement, the Scholars are awarded the U.S. Presidential Scholars medallion in a White House-sponsored ceremony. The artists and writers will exhibit their works at the Smithsonian American Art Museum on Sunday, June 17, and perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Monday, June 18. To reserve tickets click here. Be sure to tune in to Monday night’s livestream performance at www.youngarts.org or www.facebook/PBS.
Meet the 2012 U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts!
Renée Fleming: A YoungArts MasterClass
 On May 28, HBO aired Renée Fleming: A YoungArts MasterClass, inaugurating the newest episode of the Emmy-nominated program, produced and directed by filmmaking team Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon. The special half-hour presentation features the Grammy-winning soprano Ms. Fleming as she mentors four talented young opera students – YoungArts winners – in New York City at her alma mater, Juilliard, and at her apartment.
Prior to the premiere, a screening was held at MoMA in New York on May 18. In addition to Renée Fleming, attendees included YoungArts co-founder and Trustee Lin Arison, James Rosenquist, Josh Groban (1999, Theater) and Barbara Walters, along with Aaron Casey and Samantha Hankey, two YoungArts Alumni mentored by Fleming. A screening was also held in Miami on May 22 at Miami Dade College, with special guests alumnus Aaron Casey and filmmakers Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon.
View photos from both screenings and read more about this episode at the Renée Fleming: A YoungArts MasterClass Facebook page.
Also, if you missed the first airing of Renée Fleming: A YoungArts MasterClass (or if you’d like to watch it again), check out the upcoming schedule, which will air on HBO’s Family channel.
Watch the trailer!
College Choices
 YoungArts follows the projects and career trajectories of our alumni. So where do alumni go after their experience with YoungArts? One word: everywhere. From the Northeast to the Midwest and the South to the West Coast, YoungArts Alumni go on to a vast array of colleges and universities. Click here for a comprehensive list of where you can find them now.
YoungArts has facilitated more than $100 million in scholarships for our winners at the nation’s leading colleges and universities. In fact, a recent survey shows that in the class of 2012, a total of $8.5 million in scholarship dollars were awarded to alumni because of their YoungArts designation. Congratulations to the graduating class of 2012!
Blog Spotlight
 Performing with Ben Folds
By: Rebecca "Becky" Anderson, 2008 YoungArts Winner in Music and U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts
“Would you like coke? Or water, or something?”
There was a momentarily shy silence in which the seven of us YoungArts alums looked at each other, until someone finally had the courage to say, “Sure!” We’d just finished rehearsing the two songs that we were performing that evening, standing around slightly awkwardly in Ben Folds’ dressing room at the Kennedy Center. And he was offering to pour us something to drink... Read the full post here.
Alumni Spotlight
 In our fourth alumni spotlight we interview Conrad Tao, 2011 YoungArts Winner in Music and U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, who recently was featured in a three-page profile in New York Magazine, listed in the Forbes 30 under 30 list along with the top young musicians today, and attends the Columbia-Juilliard Exchange program. Watch to find out more about his new CD and stories of the other exciting opportunities he's had - all at age 17!
Where are They Now?
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+Courtney Ortiz (2007, Dance) will be joining the cast of West Side Story for the International Tour. She was cast as a Jet Girl in the production and will be rehearsing and opening in Berlin, Germany, and then traveling and performing throughout Germany, Austria, Asia and 9 months in Paris.
Read more.
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+Evan Sherman (2011, Jazz) played with the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band in Moscow, Russia at Tchaikovsky Hall on Monday, April 23. See photos of the event here.
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+Two artists received the Avery Fisher Career Grant this year – and both are YoungArts alumni! Congratulations to Benjamin Beilman (2007, Music and U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts) and Conrad Tao (2011, Music and U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts)! These grants of $25,000 give professional assistance and recognition to talented instrumentalists who the Recommendation Board and Executive Committee believe have great potential for solo careers. Read more here.
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+Isabela Dos Santos (2011, Cinematic Arts and U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts) used alumna Kate Davis’ (2009, Jazz and U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts) music for this beautiful year-end project at CalArts. We’re also excited to share that Isabela is interning at the YoungArts office in Miami this summer!
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+Congratulations to Tyler Rabinowitz (2011, Cinematic Arts and U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts) for his summer internship at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, CA! He will be the Production Assistant Intern for the Creative Services On-Air department.
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If you are between the age of 15-18 or in high school grades 10-12, read this message by alumna Sheema Golbaba, 2010 YoungArts Winner in Cinematic Arts, on 
