Young Artists
This Year's Competition
Young Artist Scholarship Competition Winners for 2024-2025
Ullasa Easthouse, Level I, 1st Place – Award $500
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Level II, 1st Place Wyatt Shields – Award $500.00
Level II, 2nd place Samatha Hilton – Award $250.00
Wyatt Shields, Level II, First Place
Interview with Wyatt:
I first started singing in high school at Colony High School in Palmer, Alaska. The music program there is filled with incredibly talented students and a wonderful teacher, Kelly Rentz. Currently I sing with my church choir and the Yavapai Youth Choir.
I’m still deciding on my college plans, but I know that singing and acting are things I love and may be a part of what I pursue. I plan to look for opportunities to be involved in community theater and other performances. I love being on stage and entertaining and sharing stories through music and drama.
My family is really into Broadway musicals—we play them in the house and in the car, and I grew up loving them. My two older brothers, Wesley and Burton, played a significant role in shaping my current path. I enjoy the storytelling, the emotion, and the complexity of musicals. It feels deeper and more expressive than a lot of popular music.
I haven’t had much classical training yet, but I’m excited to learn more. I’ve just started working with Arlene Hardy, who’s a fantastic teacher and artist, and I’m looking forward to growing my skills in classical studies.
I was so excited to receive this award. It means a lot to be recognized for something I’m passionate about. I’m also really grateful that it can help contribute to the cost of my voice lessons and support my continued growth as a singer.
Samantha Hilton, Level II, Second Place
Interview with Samantha:
I started singing at age 4 at my grandparents’ church, Golden Hills, in Oakley, CA. I am currently participating in the Chamber Singers and Advanced Treble Choir at Prescott High School, as well as being a member of Yavapai Youth Choirs’ mixed choir, Colla Voce, and their women’s choir, Voci Sorella.
I will attend NAU in the fall and plan on earning a degree in Psychology. I will also continue my music studies and take Music Theory classes while studying there. I’m excited!
I will absolutely continue performing. I plan on auditioning for the NAU choral program as well as performing with some musician family members on my off time.
My favorite part of singing Broadway musical show tunes is the pure emotion that can be expressed in the performance. Despite the fact that many musical theatre songs can be comedic and a bit satirical at times, perfecting the emotion portrayed in the music to the audience is absolutely priceless.
That being said, I very much enjoy singing classical music! After all, my earliest performance memories were in more classical settings, so I’ve always enjoyed the challenge of tempering my voice to go along with more classical styles, which often prove to need a bit more finesse than musical theatre. Singing in other languages is also a great challenge, as it’s easy to become closed-minded in singing in English exclusively, so it’s always refreshing to try and take a crack at a foreign language.
Winning the Prescott Young Artists Award means magnitudes to me. I was given the opportunity to audition with Climb Every Mountain, a song that I have grown to really love. Also, by winning this prize it means that I am still improving, even after being a vocalist for most of my life. It’s absolutely amazing that there are opportunities like this for young musicians like me and the other immensely talented vocalists who win this award.
Past Competitions
2023-2024 Young Artist Scholarship
Competition Winners
Josie Savoini, Prescott High School
Ullasa Easthouse, Private Voice Studio, A. Hardy
Avery Razo, Bradshaw Mountain High School
Nathan Kleinman, Private Voice Studio, A. Hardy
Jenna Fox, Prescott High School
Troy O’Neill, Chino Valley High School
2022-2023 Young Artist Scholarship
Competition Winners
Gabrielle Denton, Soprano – Arizona State University, and
Logan Willson, Baritone – Northern Arizona University
2021-2022 Young Artist Scholarship
Competition Winners
Brittany DeCristofaro, Soprano – Arizona State University,
Madeline Goldstein, Soprano – Northern Arizona University, and
Logan Willson, Baritone – Northern Arizona University
2019-2020 and 2020-2021 Young Artist Scholarship
Competition Winners
The competitions were not held due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
2018-2019 Young Artist Scholarship
Competition Winners
Christopher Herrera, Baritone and Lisa Wall-Urgo, Soprano
2017-2018 Young Artist Scholarship
Competition Winners
and Jordan Murillo, Bass-Baritone
2016-2017 Young Artist Scholarship
Competition Winners
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