Sophomore Juan Carlos Martinez finished first in the South Elgin High School Talent Show Jan. 31 with his magic act.
COURTESY OF JOHN KONSTANTARAS
Talented high school students throughout Elgin Area School District U-46 will take the stage Tuesday, March 13, in the eighth annual TalentFest.
The competition starts at 7 p.m. at the Hemmens Cultural Center, 45 Symphony Way, Elgin. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at hemmens.org or at the door.
“The TalentFest is basically a talent competition featuring two finalists from each of the five U-46 high school talent shows,” coordinator Jeff Grosser said.
“Those finalists are chosen either by a preselected group of teachers or staff from their high school, or by audience voting.”
After the first-round performances, the audience will vote for their favorites. The top five acts advance to the final round in the second half of the program after intermission.
The traveling TalentFest trophy, according to Grosser, is awarded to the school whose two acts receive the most votes from the audience.
Here's a look at the finalists who will be competing for the trophy ...
Sophomore Kierstan Larsen finished second in the South Elgin High School Talent Show with a vocal performance of "Astonishing" from "Little Women." The top two finishers in each of the five U-46 high school talent shows will compete in the district's TalentFest Tuesday.
COURTESY OF JOHN KONSTANTARAS
Jovana Van Teylingen and Jaylen Grant, finalists from Larkin High School, sing a duet of "Sunrise" from the musical "In the Heights."
COURTESY OF JOHN KONSTANTARAS
Dancers Luz Adrade, Jasmin DeLa Torre, Wendolyn DeLeon, Bernice Gomez, Blanca Lopez, Melanie Martinez and Ariana Morales will represent Larkin High School in TalentFest.
COURTESY OF JOHN KONSTANTARAS
The Three Posers (John Raschke, guitar and vocals, George Kostopoulos, bass, and Lukas Munoz, drums) took first place in the Bartlett High School Talent Show on Feb. 3.
COURTESY OF JOHN KONSTANTARAS
Second-place finishers from Bartlett High School: From left, Neha Shoor, cello; Lizette Pena, violin; and Jelianne, keyboard and vocals.
COURTESY OF JOHN KONSTANTARAS
Streamwood High School's Christian Acevedo of Elgin and Alyssa Perez of Streamwood perform "Good Old Days."
COURTESY OF DAVE TONGE
India Hall, a sophomore from Streamwood High School, sings "Russian Roulette." She is one of the school's two finalists who will advance to the districtwide TalentFest Tuesday at the Hemmens.
COURTESY OF DAVE TONGE
Elgin High School juniors Adan Villa and Rigo Rodriguez performed a Rodrigo y Gabriela classical guitar duet at their school's talent show on March 1. They will move on to TalentFest. They were also one of the top two acts from last year to advance to the U-46 TalentFest.
COURTESY OF DAVE TONGE
Elgin High School senior Brandon Garcia performs a dance consisting of popping and locking, gliding, waves and robotics. Garcia performed at the districtwide TalentFest last year as well.
COURTESY OF DAVE TONGE