Judges may change for all auditions beginning in 2009

Celebrity Judges 2008

Non-Classical Dance

Julie McDonald is co-owner of McDonald Selznick Associates (MSA). Collectively, MSA’s clients have worked with many of the music industry’s most influential recording artists including Madonna, Celine Dion, Josh Groban, Usher, and Mariah Carey. Their choreography graces numerous Las Vegas productions including: Cirque du Soleil and Bette Midler’s The Showgirl Must Go On. On Broadway, their work can be seen in Hairspray, Legally Blonde, The Color Purple, and the upcoming Spiderman. MSA’s clients have been nominated for and won numerous Tony, Emmy, and American Choreography awards. Ms. McDonald is a founder of the Choreography Media Honors, a new annual event honoring the art and craft of choreography for the camera.

Vincent Paterson, director/choreographer, has a career without boundaries. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his choreography of Kiss of the Spiderwoman. His film choreography includes Dancer in the Dark, The Birdcage, and Evita. He directed and choreographed In Search of Dr. Seuss for TNT, receiving seven Emmy nominations. He directed and choreographed Madonna’s Blonde Ambition tour as well as Michael Jackson’s Bad tour. He directed Manon at LA Opera starring Anna Netrebko. His dance-film reflection on September 11th won the Gold Jury Award at the Houston Film Festival. He is currently directing and writing Cirque Du Soleil’s Elvis to open in Las Vegas at City Center in November 2009.

Natalie Willes was a Grand Prize Finalist at the Music Center Spotlight Awards in 1993. Ms. Willes studied on scholarship with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She is a former Radio City Rockette and was the youngest Rockette to be chosen in the troupe’s history. Her Broadway and theater credits include Saturday Night Fever, Movin’ Out, Like Jazz, San Francisco Opera’s La Rossignol, and LA Opera’s Tannhäuser. She can be seen in many films and television programs including Chicago, the movie, and Austin Powers. Her latest project, The Travels of Shaka-Muni, is a new children’s television show which she starred in, produced, directed, and choreographed.

Jazz Instrumental

David Benoit is a multi Grammy-nominated jazz pianist. He has arranged, conducted, and performed music for artists including Patti Austin, Dave Koz, Faith Hill, Russ Freeman & the Rippingtons, and Cece Winans, among others, as well as eminent orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, and Czech National Symphony Orchestra. He received the coveted Excellence in Music Education Award from the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation for his deep involvement as a guest educator. He has also been involved with the Grammy in the Schools Foundation and was awarded Music Mentor of the Year by the International Foundation of Education and Performing Arts. He is currently music director of the Asia America Symphony.

Gerald Clayton was a Grand Prize Finalist at the Music Center Spotlight Awards in 2001. Mr. Clayton has performed in international concerts with world-renowned musicians including Benny Green, Mulgrew Miller, Kenny Barron, Clark Terry, and Roy Hargrove, among others. His notable engagements include performances with the Henry Mancini Orchestra at Royce Hall and at Walt Disney Concert Hall. He recently received second place in the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Piano Competition. He can be heard on Back in the Swing of Things, the latest recording by the Clayton Brothers, as well as on several tracks of Diana Krall’s most recent recording From This Moment On.

Kevin Eubanks is one of the most prolific jazz guitarists in the country. He has been a key member of the Tonight Show Band since the program premiered in May 1992. He composed the closing theme and continues to write additional music for the show. Mr. Eubanks has released numerous CD’s during his sixteen-year recording career. He was the recipient of an honorary doctorate degree from the prestigious Berklee School of Music at the 2005 commencement ceremonies.

Ballet

Misty Copeland was a Grand Prize Finalist at the Music Center Spotlight Awards in 1998. She is a soloist with American Ballet Theatre (ABT), having started in the ABT Studio Company. She joined ABT’s corps de ballet in 2001. Ms. Copeland has held leading roles in In the Upper Room, Pretty Good Year, Sechs Tänze, Sinfonietta, Within You Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison, and workwithinwork. She has also held featured roles in Amazed in Burning Dreams, Gong, and HereAfter, and created a leading role in Glow-Stop. Her roles with ABT include those in La Bayadère, Le Corsaire, Coppélia, Don Quixote, Christopher Wheeldon’s VIII, Giselle, Petrouchka, Raymonda, and Swan Lake.

Nichol Hlinka is a former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, initially under George Balanchine’s leadership. She was promoted to principal dancer during Peter Martins’ tenure. She was featured in a wide range of ballerina roles including Balanchine’s Coppélia, Nutcracker, Raymonda Variations, Scotch Symphony, Stars and Stripes, Symphony in C, and Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, to name a few. Ballets choreographed on Ms. Hlinka include works by Jacques d’Amboise and Peter Martins, among others. Her performances were broadcast by PBS on Live From Lincoln Center and Great Performances. Since retiring, she has taught master classes in ballet, choreographed for New York City Ballet’s Choreographers Workshops, and been involved in educational seminars on dance.

Stanton Welch is the artistic director of Houston Ballet. He is a former principal dancer with the Australian Ballet and has worked with internationally acclaimed choreographers such as Jirí Kylían, Nacho Duato, and Maurice Béjart. Mr. Welch is also one of the most sought-after choreographers of his generation, having created works for such prestigious international companies as American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, Royal Danish Ballet, the Australian Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, and Boston Ballet, among others. His full-length production of Madame Butterfly is an international signature work and is in the repertoires of world-class dance companies.

Non-Classical Voice

Erin Mackey was a Grand Prize Finalist at the Music Center Spotlight Awards in 2003. She has appeared in a number of Warner Bros. television shows including Do Over, Family Affair, and Greetings From Tucson, and was the acting double for Lindsay Lohan in Disney’s The Parent Trap. After attending Carnegie Mellon for her freshman year of college, she landed a job with the first national tour of Wicked. She then moved onto the Chicago company of Wicked as an understudy for Glinda. Shortly afterwards, she took over the role of Glinda permanently in Chicago, where she has flown in a bubble eight times a week since October 2006.

Tonya Pinkins is a Tony Award-winner who has also won Obie, Drama Desk, Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, Garland, LA Drama Critics, Clarence Derwent, and Audelco awards. She has received numerous nominations for awards including three Tony nominations, an Olivier nomination, two NAACP nominations, and a Jeff nomination. She appeared as Livia Frye on All My Children for eighteen years. She is currently in the film Enchanted and the seventh season of the television series 24. Ms. Pinkins is the author of Get Over Yourself: How to Drop the Drama and Claim the Life You Deserve. She is founder of the Actorpreneur Attitude™, as well as a lecturer, teacher, and coach.

Andrew Lanoie is an agent with the Music Department of the William Morris Agency which represents renowned artists including multi Grammy Award-winners Diana Krall and Natalie Cole, Tony Award-winners Julie Andrews and Bernadette Peters, Grammy-nominated Jane Monheit, as well as rising star Renee Olstead. After graduating from college, Mr. Lanoie toured with successful bands including Percy Hill and Groove Child. Having always had an interest in the business aspect of music, he continued to manage both the tours and the bands with which he performed. In addition, he became active with the prestigious Summer Youth Music School in New Hampshire. Mr. Lanoie has been with the William Morris Agency for 10 years.

Classical Voice

Juliana Gondek has sung in the world’s most celebrated opera houses, concert halls, and festivals, performing with Herbert von Karajan, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, and James Levine. She has starred with over one hundred opera companies and orchestras including the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, the Edinburgh Festival, Netherlands Opera, Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, New York Philharmonic, Suisse Romande Orchestra, and Hong Kong Philharmonic. Many of her recordings have won international prizes. Ms. Gondek chairs the Voice and Opera program at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and at the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, and teaches master classes and adjudicates internationally.

Suzanna Guzmán, mezzosoprano, is a principal artist of LA Opera. As a soloist, she has performed internationally with companies that include the Metropolitan Opera, Washington Opera, and Houston Grand Opera. Time magazine praised her portrayal of Bizet’s Carmen. She was nominated for a Helen Hayes Lead Actress Award and was a soloist on the 2006 Grammy-nominated CD Carlos Chávez: Volume III. First Lady Maria Shriver chose her to be featured in the California Women’s Museum exhibit, Latinas: the Spirit of California, for her work as an arts advocate. Ms. Guzman has performed her one-woman elementary school show, Don’t be Afraid: It’s Just Opera!, for over two hundred thousand inner city children.

Joshua Winograde was a Grand Prize Finalist at the Music Center Spotlight Awards in 1992. Mr. Winograde, bass-baritone, has sung with world-class opera companies including New York City Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Spoleto Festival USA, Chautauqua Opera Company, and Wolf Trap Opera Company. In concert, Mr. Winograde has sung with the most distinguished orchestras and conductors including the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen, Leonard Slatkin, and Grant Gershon, among others. In addition to his career as an opera and concert singer, he is the head of the Wolf Trap Opera Studio and manager of the Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program at LA Opera.

Classical Instrumental

Helane Anderson is the artistic administrator and program planner for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Ms. Anderson oversees and coordinates the Los Angeles Philharmonic classical programming at the Hollywood Bowl. In addition, she plans a number of Philharmonic series at Walt Disney Concert Hall, including the Green Umbrella new music series, chamber music series, and education concerts. Ms. Anderson was director of Composers & Repertoire at the New York office of international music publisher Boosey & Hawkes, where she was responsible for working closely with composers such as John Adams and Steve Reich and overseeing all commissioning projects, including the Stravinsky Project.

Yehuda Gilad has been lauded by the New York Times for his “strong imaginative programming.” His innovative approach to music-making has earned him a reputation as one of today’s most dynamic and charismatic artists. He is currently music director of the Colburn Orchestra and also served as music director of the Colonial Symphony of New Jersey, 20th Century Unlimited concert series, Thornton Chamber Orchestra, and Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra. His guest conducting appearances have garnered critical acclaim in the United States, Asia and Europe. His collaborations with leading artists include Joshua Bell, Sarah Chang, Joseph Kalichstein, and Vladimir Feltsman, to name a few.

Max Levinson was a Grand Prize Finalist at the Music Center Spotlight Awards in 1988. He has performed internationally as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Boston Pops, and National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, among others. He received First Prize in the Dublin International Piano Competition and the Avery Fisher Career Grant. Mr. Levinson has collaborated with such artists as Pinchas Zukerman and the Tokyo, Vermeer, Mendelssohn, and Borromeo quartets. His music festival appearances include Marlboro, Tanglewood, La Jolla, and Switzerland’s Davos festivals. He is artistic director of the San Juan Chamber Music Festival and on faculty at Boston Conservatory and Brown University.

Semi Final Performing Arts Judges 2008

Non-Classical Dance

Cheryl Baxter has performed on Broadway in Sophisticated Ladies and in national companies of Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, and 42nd Street. She has worked with Gregory Hines, among others. Ms. Baxter was assistant choreographer to Gene Kelly and Kenny Ortega Shawnette Heard was co-creator, director, and choreographer for Janet Jackson’s All For You and Velvet Rope world tours. She was also co-creator for Christina Aguilera, American Music Awards, and the MTV Music Video Awards. She is the artistic educational director of the Osaka School of Music.

Dee Kaye is the co-founder of Teatro Electrio, a modern/jazz dance ensemble based in Milan, Italy, as well as the lead dancer on Canali 5 and The Rai for Italian television. Ms. Kaye has performed extensively throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe for television, movies, commercials, and stage.

Rick Negrón studied on scholarship at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and appeared with the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Broadway credits include Leader of the Pack and Legs Diamond and international tours of West Side Story. He was in the Los Angeles company of Ragtime. He can be seen in Chicago, the movie.

Mike Weir is a former professional dancer and singer whose credits on Broadway include starring roles in Blackstone!, Evita, and A Chorus Line. He was a principal dancer with the Omaha Ballet and the modern dance companies Manning Freed Dance Theater and Space, Energy, Time Dance Company.

Jazz Instrumental

John Beasley has recorded and performed with musicians as diverse as Miles Davis, Chaka Khan, James Brown, Chick Corea, Freddie Hubbard, Barbra Streisand, and the Count Basie Orchestra, to name a few. He has been the pianist on numerous film scores for luminaries such as Dave Grusin. He conducts jazz clinics and workshops internationally.

Marlo Henderson has toured, recorded, and composed for Quincy Jones, Earth Wind & Fire, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Patti LaBelle, and Johnny Mathis, among others. He is launching an audio video school for students at the Blazers Learning Center. Mr. Henderson has performed on more than fifty gold and platinum albums.

Mitch Holder has recorded with renowned artists including Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dionne Warwick, among others. He has worked with composers John Williams, Dave Grusin, Herbie Hancock, Patrice Rushen, and many more. Mr. Holder can be heard on numerous movie soundtracks, television shows, and TV/radio commercials.

Gary Pratt is co-director of the California State University, Northridge Jazz Studies program. He has performed and/or recorded with such legendary jazz artists as Louie Bellson, Lionel Hampton, and many others. He is involved with the Los Angeles CityYouth Orchestra Council and the California Music Educators Association.

Kim Richmond has been a member of the orchestras of Stan Kenton and Louie Bellson,among others. He has been nominated for a Grammy Award in jazz composition for his new Refractions CD. He serves as guest lecturer, conductor, and guest soloist at numerous college music festivals and workshops nationally.

Joey Sellers has performed and recorded with Dave Liebman and Toshiko Akiyoshi’sOrchestra, among others. He received the Gil Evans Fellowship along with numerous grants, including those from the National Endowment for the Arts and the International Association for Jazz Education. He is director of Jazz Studies at Saddleback College.

Wayne Vaughn has collaborated and recorded with artists including Quincy Jones, Aretha Franklin, Freddie Hubbard, and Ray Charles, to name just a few. He has been a member of the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers, board of governors of the Grammy Awards, and the National Association of Recording Arts and Science.

Ballet

Melissa Barak is a former member of the New York City Ballet. Ms. Barak’s soloist roles include those in Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, The Nutcracker, and Swan Lake, among others. She has choreographed for the New York City Ballet. She is currently a member of the Los Angeles Ballet.

Leslie Carothers-Aromaa is a former principal dancer of Pennsylvania Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet. She is co-director of the Colburn Dance Institute. She is an adjunct professor at Bryn Mawr College and faculty member of Pennsylvania Ballet School and Finnish National Ballet School. She is a recipient of the National Choreography Award.

Martine Harley is a former soloist with the Houston Ballet. She has worked with Dame Margot Fonteyn and Sir Kenneth MacMillan. She has danced for presidents and dignitaries at the Kennedy Center and internationally. Upon retiring from dancing, Ms. Harley became ballet mistress and artistic coordinator for the Houston Ballet.

Romy Karz Rapoport is a former member of the New York City Ballet. She has performed principal and solo roles in Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, Agon, and Concerto Barocco, among others. She has appeared in the PBS Dance in America broadcast of An Evening with Balanchine and the movie The Nutcracker.

Francine Kessler Lavac is a former soloist with Ballet West. She performed principal roles in Coppélia and Nutcracker, and leads in Balanchine’s Pas de Dix, Serenade, John Butler’s Carmina Burana, and Cinderella. She can be seen as the partner of Mikhail Baryshnikov in his CBS television special.

Kimberly Okamura was formerly with San Francisco Ballet. She has performed the works of choreographers such as George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, William Forsythe, Paul Taylor, and Mark Morris. She performed as a guest artist with Alonzo King’s Lines Contemporary Ballet and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.

Amanda Schull is a former member of the San Francisco Ballet. She was cast as the female lead in the movie Center Stage. Her principal and soloist roles include those in Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, and Balanchine’s Who Cares?, Jewels, and Swan Lake. She is a recipient of the National Society of Arts and Letters Award for Performing Arts

Non-Classical Voice

Patricia Gee is an adjunct professor of voice at Chapman University and University of Redlands (U of R). Her numerous teaching awards include the Excellence in Teaching Award from the U of R. Ms. Gee’s students currently perform in Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, West Side Story, Godspell, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Les Misérables, among others.

Ilene Graff made her Broadway debut in Promises, Promises. She also starred on Broadway as Sandy in Grease and created the role of Cleo in I Love My Wife. Ms. Graff was recently featured in South Pacific starring Glenn Close. Other theater credits include Rose in Gypsy, Charley’s Aunt with Charles Grodin, and Annie Get Your Gun as Annie.

Rick Negrón has performed in Broadway productions of Man of La Mancha, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, West Side Story, and The Goodbye Girl, among others. Los Angeles credits include The Ten Commandments, Ragtime, and Hair. He recently starred in Mamma Mia in Las Vegas.

Nita Whitaker has performed with Faith Hill, Celine Dion, Richard Marx, Josh Groban, Stevie Wonder, and Yolanda Adams. She sang duets with Andrea Bocelli during his Winter Tour and often travels with David Foster as his featured artist.

Deniece Williams is a multi Grammy Award-winner who has recorded numerous albums including Let’s Hear it for the Boy. She has toured with Stevie Wonder. Ms. Williams also performed in the London production of the musical Mama I Want to Sing.

Classical Voice

Patricia Gee is an adjunct professor of voice at Chapman University and University of Redlands. She has performed as a soloist in Menotti’s The Telephone, Handel’s Messiah, and Mozart’s The Impresario and Coronation Mass, among others. Ms. Gee’s students perform in international and national opera houses.

Gary Glaze is former chairman and professor in the Vocal Arts and Opera Department at the USC Thornton School of Music. He has performed with New York City and Metropolitan opera companies. His performances include featured soloist at Avery Fisher Hall and Carnegie Hall, and guest artist with various opera companies.

Elizabeth Hynes is chair of the Vocal Arts Department at the USC Thornton School of Music. Ms. Hynes has performed in major opera houses singing roles in Madama Butterfly, La Bohème, and Faust. She has appeared with the orchestras of Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Madrid, and Vienna, among others.

Marco Schindelmann is artist professor of voice and director of the University Opera at University of Redlands. He has performed as a soloist with organizations such as the Bayerische Staatsoper, Bayersische Staatsballet, and Radio Vaticana. His roles include those in Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro, and La Traviata, among others.

Laura Kay Swanson has performed with the LA Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Amato Opera, Liederkranz Opera Theatre, and New York City Opera National Company. Her repertoire includes The Grand Duchess, La Traviata, Rigoletto, Die Zauberflöte, and Carmen, among others. She has performed with Plácido Domingo and James Levine.

Classical Instrumental

Marshall T. Fulbright III is music director and conductor of the Long Beach Community College Orchestra and director of orchestral studies at Long Beach City College. He has studied with conducting pedagogues such as David Zinman, Jorge Mester, and JoAnn Falletta, and attended the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen and the Conductor Institute of South Carolina, among others.

Martin Glicklich has played in the Los Angeles Philharmonic, LA Opera, and Long Beach Symphony, among others. He has collaborated with a variety of artists ranging from Midori and Marilyn Home to Marvin Hamlisch and Harry Connick, Jr. He is active in the motion picture industry as a recording artist and is currently assistant to the associate dean at the Colburn School.

Jacqueline Petitto is on faculty at the Colburn Conservatory of Music, Pasadena City College, and Los Angeles City College, and has taught at the University of Southern California and University of La Verne. She is in demand as an adjudicator and is an active member of Music Teachers National Association and California Association of Professional Music Teachers.

Richard Rintoul conducts the orchestra and teaches conducting at UCSB and conducts the Irvine Classical Players Orchestra. His guest-conducting includes San Diego Symphony, Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, Thousand Oaks Philharmonic, Inland Empire Orchestra, Downey Symphony, and commercial studio recording sessions, among others. He maintains an active career as a violist for film and television soundtracks.

Richard Todd is an internationally renowned concert and recording artist and principal horn with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. He has performed under the batons of Bernstein, Guilini, Marriner, Ozawa, and Previn, and with numerous international orchestras. His festival appearances include Mostly Mozart, Tanglewood, La Jolla, and Music Academy of the West. He is currently on faculty at Indiana University.

Preliminary Judges 2008

David Arnay
Debbie Boltinghouse
Mark Braunstein
John Burdett
Timothy Durkovic
Neisha Folkes
Patricia Gee
Ilene Graff
Julia Gregory
Daniel Guzman
Susan Helfter
Elisabeth Howard
Malathi Iyengar
Dee Kaye
Francine Kessler Lavac
Rodney Lee
Marie-France Lévesque
Antonio Lopez
Paul Loredo
Gregory Maldonado
Kimberly Okamura
John Glenn Paton
Jacqueline Petitto
Angelica Prodan
Kim Richmond
Mary Kathryn Riggs
Richard Rintoul
Marco Schindelmann
Jo Raquel Stoup
Jamey Tate
Erin Tryon
Jacques Voyemant
Mike Weir
David Young
Christopher Youngsman