9th Annual St. Louis Teen Talent Competition begins first round February 2-3

ST. LOUIS – Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation (FoxPACF) is pleased to announce that the preliminary round of the 9th Annual St. Louis Teen Talent Competition will take place on February 2 & 3, 2019 with 141 performers taking the stage in the first round of competition (a complete list of students/schools can be found here). “We are thrilled with the ongoing response to this event from students, parents, arts organizations and the community. The Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation is happy to be able to provide the opportunity for students to perform at the Fox and on other stages around St. Louis. We’re delighted that we are able to put talented young people in the spotlight,” said Mary Strauss, St. Louis Teen Talent Competition creator, as well as FoxPACF Founder and President Emeritus of the FoxPACF Board of Directors.

Entries represent 53 schools in the bi-state metropolitan area (48 MO / 5 IL) plus 6 homeschoolers. The acts showcase a diverse array of talents including musicians, composers, singers, actors, dancers, musical theatre performers, rappers, bands, and specialty acts that include color guard (flags), aerial arts, acrobatics, contortionists, and jugglers, Acts may include up to six students performing as a group and can perform original or published material.

Students in this competition are vying for more than $40,000 in college scholarships, cash awards, prizes, performance opportunities. In addition to the 1st Place $8,000, 2nd Place $6,000, and 3rd Place $4,000 scholarships awarded at the Final Round, restricted scholarship opportunities to Southeast Missouri State University, Webster University and University of Missouri-St. Louis will also be available to students taking part in the Competition. Participants will also be eligible for unique public performance opportunities. Participants from the past eight years have performed at The Muny, National Dance Week, Taste of Maplewood, Gateway Grizzlies, Shakespeare Festival, Chamber Music Society of St. Louis, Winter Opera St. Louis and The Rising Stars Showcase. Further details on these opportunities can be found here.

Judges for both the Preliminary and Semi-final competitions are professionals representing a cross-section of the St. Louis performing arts community who give constructive performance advice to each act. Each round of competition will have a panel of at least three judges who will adjudicate and advance acts to the next round. Acts will be judged on technical ability, interpretation, stage presence and originality. A complete list of preliminary round judges is available on the FoxPACF website.

The two days of Preliminary Competition, at Kirkwood High School and Logan University, will narrow the field from 98 to approximate 40 acts. These acts will then compete in the Semi-Finals on Saturday, March 9 at Kirkwood High School where the final 12 to 15 acts will be chosen to compete onstage at The Fabulous Fox Theatre as part of a professionally produced production, adjudicated by both St. Louis and national performing arts professionals on Saturday, April 13, 2018. This final event is free and open to the public.

Registration for this event was FREE and open to all performing arts high school students in the St. Louis Metropolitan area. Contestants must be enrolled in the 9th through 12th grades in the 2018-2019 school year and must attend a high school/home school within a 50-mile radius from the Arch in all directions. Complete guidelines and information about the 9th Annual 2019 St. Louis Teen Talent Competition can be found on the Foundation’s website as well as on the FoxPACF Facebook page. The community response to this FREE event has been amazing and grown over the past eight years with “sold out” crowds at The Fabulous Fox. Miano.tv produces videos of the competition process which will be available on their YouTube and SchoolTube channels after the Semi-Final round. Stories from the past eight years are currently posted and provide viewers a glimpse of what the competition is all about.

The Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation reintroduced the St. Louis Teen Talent Competition in 2011 to showcase the St. Louis region’s most talented teens in the performing arts. The 2018 St. Louis Teen Talent Competition winner was Nicaya Wiley, a dancer from Kirkwood High School. A complete list of the past eight years of winners and finalists can be found on the FoxPACF website.

“We have been thrilled with the response to this event from students, parents, arts organizations and the community. The Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation is uniquely positioned to provide the opportunity for students to perform at the Fox and on other stages around St. Louis. We are pleased that we are able to put talented young people in the spotlight,” said James Weidman, President of the FoxPACF Board of Directors.

Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation fosters, promotes, and encourages young people in the St. Louis region to discover and participate in the joy and wonder of live performances. In addition to the St. Louis Teen Talent Competition, the Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation also produces a variety of other performing arts programs that focus on youth including Kids’ Night at the Fabulous Fox, Broadway Master Classes, Educational Encores, and is a producing partner of the 3rd Annual St. Louis High School Musical Theatre Awards.

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