Rising Star Finalists Will Compete at Howard County Celebration of the Arts

The Howard County Arts Council is pleased to announce the 19th Annual Celebration of the Arts in Howard County on Saturday, March 19, 2016 at the Peter and Elizabeth Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center, Howard Community College (HCC), Columbia, MD. Elizabeth and Kenneth Lundeen will serve as Honorary Chairs. Richard W. Story, Senior Vice President, Community Relations and Government Affairs, and Business Development Liaison for Howard Bank, will serve as Event Emcee.

The Celebration is a multi-faceted signature event, showcasing and promoting the arts and raising funds in support of the arts, artists, and arts organizations in Howard County. One of the highlights of the 2016 Celebration is the Rising Star Emerging Performing Artist Award Competition, in which ten finalists will compete for a cash prize of $5,000. In November, individual performing artists — aged 18 to 35 years and currently or recently living, working, performing regularly, or receiving training in Howard County — auditioned before a panel of professionals in their discipline. Review criteria included artistic merit, demonstrated experience in the arts, and commitment to a career in the arts.

The Rising Star finalists will perform at the Celebration before an audience of artists, arts patrons, business and political representatives, and community members who will select the winner by popular vote. The award will be presented on stage that evening!

The ten finalists performing at the Celebration are Monica Albizo, Musical Theatre; Mark Edwards, Classical Guitar; Crystal Freeman, Musical Theatre; Joshua Hughes, Musical Theatre; Jenny Lehtonen, Flute; Esther Oh, Classical Voice; Cody Quattlebaum, Classical Voice; Elizabeth Rayca, Musical Theatre; Luke Spence, Classical Trumpet; and Shing Ann Yeh, Cello.

Monica Albizo, Musical Theatre
Monica Albizo is a lifelong Howard County resident who was active in drama, choir, and dance while a student at Wilde Lake High School. She spent time with both the Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts Teen Professional Theatre and the Young Columbians. Monica is currently at University of Maryland, College Park, pursuing her degree in Theatre Performance and hopes to one day have a professional career as an actress.

Mark Edwards, Classical Guitar
Mark Edwards has performed and competed throughout the United States, Canada, Italy, and Germany. He works with Artists International in Columbia which brings concerts to audiences who would not otherwise be able to attend musical performances. Mark earned his MM in Guitar Performance and Pedagogy as well as a Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Institute of Music in Baltimore. He is currently pursuing his Doctorate of Musical Arts at Shenandoah University in Virginia.

Crystal Freeman, Musical Theatre
Crystal Freeman has performed regularly at Toby’s Dinner Theatre for the last six years where she was recently seen in South Pacific and Ragtime the Musical. She has also performed at ArtsCentric, Teatro 101, and Opera Company of Philadelphia. Crystal is a music teacher with Prince George’s County Public Schools and earned her BA in Music from Morgan State University.

Joshua Hughes, Musical Theatre
Joshua Hughes has performed in a wide range of opera, operetta, and musical theatre. He is currently the Assistant Music Director at First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ellicott City where he directs the adult and children’s choirs in addition to singing, playing trumpet and piano, and planning music for services. After graduating from the Peaboy Conservatory this spring with his MM, he plans to continue performing, directing, and teaching. Joshua has a BM in Music Education from Oklahoma City University.

Jenny Lehtonen, Flute
Born and raised in Columbia, Jenny Lehtonen graduated from University of Maryland, College Park, with a BM in Flute Performance. She received most of her earlier musical training from both private and public school teachers in Howard County. A graduate of Oakland Mills High School, Jenny has competed in county-wide competitions and represented Howard County in numerous honor bands. She currently enjoys performing and teaching privately.

Esther Oh, Classical Voice
Soprano Esther Oh is an active performer in Howard County with the Bethel Church choir in Ellicott City. She has performed both domestically and abroad at venues such as the Seoul Arts Center in Korea and Castello Brancaboim in Italy, among others. In addition to becoming a teacher, she would like to connect and unite diverse groups of people in the community through music and arts. Esther is currently a Doctorate of Musical Arts candidate at Temple University in Philadelphia, where she also completed her MM in Voice Performance.

Cody Quattlebaum, Classical Voice
Bass-Baritone Cody Quattlebaum is a graduate of Marriotts Ridge High School where encouragement from Music Director Terry Eberhardt led him to study privately with Carol Yunkunis. He graduated from the University of Cinncinatti’s College Conservatory of Music with a BM in Voice where he won the 2012 Undergraduate Voice Competition and the Seybold-Russell award in the 2015 Corbett Competition. Cody is now pursuing an MM in Voice Performance at The Juilliard School in New York City.

Elizabeth Rayca, Musical Theatre
Elizabeth Rayca performs regularly at Toby’s Dinner Theatre and was recently seen in Ragtime and Into the Woods. She has performed for Disney Cruise Lines and holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Penn State University. A mother of two, Elizabeth is very grateful to be able to continue to pursue her dreams while also maintaining her family life.

Luke Spence, Classical Trumpet
Luke Spence graduated from Marriotts Ridge High School and earned his BM in Trumpet Performance from the Oberlin Conservatory in 2015. While at Oberlin, he was awarded the 2014 James Stamp Award and toured 18 cities throughout China with the Oberlin Brass Quintet. He is currently pursuing an MM in Trumpet Performance at University of Maryland College Park under the tutelage of Chris Gekker. Luke’s future goals are to create and share art.

Shing Ann Yeh, Cello
Shing Ann Yeh attended Howard County Public Schools as a child eventually graduating from Centennial High School. The third grade strings program at Centennial Lane Elementary launched her love for the cello, and she subsequently began playing in the school orchestras, including the Howard County G/T Orchestra. She holds a BA from Vanderbilt University and recently returned from India where she lived and performed. Ann is currently pursuing her MM at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

For photographs of the finalists or for more information, call 410-313-ARTS (2787) or email requests to deputydirector@hocoarts.org.