Ten U-46 students win Fox Valley Beaux Arts scholarships
Fox Valley Beaux Arts recently showcased its 2015 scholarship winners at Elgin Country Club.
For more than 30 years, Beaux Arts has supported the arts in the Elgin Area School District U-46 enrollment area.
The nonprofit organization awards annual scholarships to area high school seniors who have demonstrated the ability and desire to pursue careers in the visual or performing arts.
Scholarship chairwomen Barbara McGee and Linda O'Connor announced the 10 high school graduating seniors who were recipients of this year's scholarship funds.
Several of the students entertained Beaux Arts members and guests with a presentation or performance in their chosen area of talent at a gathering on Wednesday, May 6, at the Elgin Country Club.
• Andrew Espinosa, a Larkin High School senior, is a cellist, composer and musical arranger. He hopes to motivate aspiring young students in his chosen profession as music educator. He will attend Van Der Cook College in Chicago where he will pursue a degree in music education. Throughout his career at Larkin High School's Visual and Performing Arts Academy he has arranged pieces for the LHS Symphony Orchestra. He was a member of the Tri-M Honor Society and was also named co-principal in the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra. In addition to his musical accomplishments, Andrew is an Illinois State Scholar.
• Eileen Campbell, a graduate of South Elgin High School, will pursue her passion of theater and drama at the University of Iowa where she will major in theater and English. She is an accomplished actress, having performed in productions such as "Spamalot," "It's a Wonderful Life," "Oklahoma!" and "Anne Frank" at her school. During her high school career, she participated in speech competitions, making South Elgin High history by double-qualifying for the state tournament in both poetry reading and dramatic duet acting. Eileen is also a writer and reviewer, having competed at the IHSA Sectional Journalism contest where she qualified for the state contest in both review writing and yearbook layout.
• Talia Fossa, a graduate of Elgin High School Gifted Academy, is an aspiring singer, having participated in numerous activities during her high school career. She has sung in the Elgin High Chamber Choir and performed at the gala December madrigal dinner. Her stage credits include "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," "Annie Jr." and "Young Frankenstein." She also participated in the Illinois Music Educators Association District Choir. In addition to singing, Talia plays clarinet and was a member of the Elgin High marching band as well as the school's symphonic band. She is an AP Scholar with Distinction, a member of both the National Honor Society and the French Honor Society and will attend UCLA where she will major in engineering and minor in music.
• Kelly Johnson of Hanover Park graduated from Bartlett High School where she participated in madrigal choir, symphonic band and the marching, varsity and concert bands. She is a pianist as well as a singer and has performed in "Ragtime," "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," "Shrek" and "Mary Poppins" at Bartlett High. She has been a member of Tri M as well as the Theatre Honor Society. She is in both the handbell choir and the Cathedral Choir of the First United Methodist Church. In addition, she is a volunteer in several area nursing homes and has participated in mission trips in Tennessee and Missouri. Kelly will attend Milliken University in the fall with a major in music education.
• Ellen Kessler, a graduate of Streamwood High School, will major in theater design and technology at Keene State College in New Hampshire. In her years at Streamwood, she has worked behind the scenes of numerous productions including "Seussical: The Musical," "Metamorphoses," "12 Angry Jurors" and "Fiddler on the Roof" in the areas of technical director and set designer. She has served for four years as the president of her high school's theater technical club and has produced lighting designs for numerous plays, both in and outside of school. For three years at Streamwood High, she was invited to participate in the Honors World Language Academy where she was enrolled in the school's most rigorous academic program.
• Deborah Ogunribido has had a high profile in many areas at Elgin High School. She performed in musicals such as "Young Frankenstein," competed with the speech team and was the winner of the Elgin High talent show in 2014. She is a gifted singer and volunteers for several groups including Boys and Girls Clubs. She plans to attend the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
• Elyssa Smith is a clarinetist who attended Larkin High School Visual and Performing Arts Academy. A participant in the Illinois Music Educators Association Festival for three years, she has performed in recitals and juries throughout her high school career. Her band and orchestra experiences have been with the IMEA All-State Honors Band, IMEA District 9 Orchestra and the Marching Royals. After school she teaches clarinet to younger students. Her plans are to attend the University of North Texas in Denton, where she will pursue a degree in music education.
• Sarah Tabak, a graduate of Larkin High School Visual and Performing Arts Academy, will major in dance performance at the University of Utah. Sarah has danced since 2007 with Schaumburg Dance Ensemble, Faubourg School of Ballet in Hanover Park and with her teacher Kelly Hill, who is director of dance at Larkin High VPAA. While in her junior year, Sarah codirected and choreographed several pieces for a student program. In her senior year, she broke new ground, becoming the first student choreographer to be invited to choreograph a dance for the academy. While at the University of Utah, she hopes to expand the artistic opportunities available to children of Utah. Her long-term goal is to dance professionally with Ballet West, a Salt Lake City-based professional ballet company. Sarah graduated in January of 2015 with highest honors in her class at Larkin High.
• Pricilla Torres of Streamwood auditioned for Larkin's Visual and Performing Arts Academy in 2011, studying there since that time with a focus in drama. Pricilla was a member of the Academy Honors Acting Program where she helped underclassmen learn acting, directing, blocking, auditioning and character analysis. She was a member and graduating president of the Larkin High Thespian Society. Her acting credits include "The Children's Hour," "Legally Blonde," "Hairspray" and "Cinderella." Her professional credits include performing as an extra in the movie production "Transformers 4." Pricilla will attend the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point where she will pursue a bachelor's in fine arts with a major in acting.
• Bethany Wahl of Elgin has attended Larkin High School's Visual and Performing Arts Academy since 2011. While there she has sung in concert choir and played flute in recitals, competitions and concerts through her involvement in pit orchestra and marching and pep bands. In her junior year, she was a winner of the concerto competition for Larkin's Wind Ensemble. She has studied piano and is currently a flute student of Elgin Community College instructor Scott Metlicka. Honors at Larkin include acting as vice president for the Tri M Music Honors Society and vice president of National Honor Society. Bethany will major in music with a business emphasis at Concordia University in River Forest, Illinois.