Segerstrom Center For The Arts Announces First Ever Talent Competition

Segerstrom Center for the Arts announced today their first- ever county-wide talent competition. The search is on to award the title of "Orange County's Best". If you sing, dance, play an instrument, perform in a band, or have a dance crew, Segerstrom wants to talk to you! Give us your best shot, and wow the judges and a live audience! Beginning today, April 1, applications are accepted through our website (www.scfta.org/OCCenterStage), with the deadline to enter on June 1. Ten finalists will be selected to compete in front of a panel of judges on Saturday, August 24 on the Julianne and George Argyros Plaza. The Grand Prize winner will receive $1,000 and the title of "Orange County's Best"! Second place will be awarded $750, and third place will win $500. In addition, ALL finalists will receive a stipend: solos and duos will receive $150 for performing, and groups of three or more will receive $300.This is your time to shine, Orange County!

OC Center Stage is open to residents of Orange County who are at least eight (8) years old and non-professionals (you may not generate fifty percent (50%) or more of your wages from performing). Full content rules are available below and on our website. The vision behind our first ever talent competition comes from Jason Holland, VP of Community Engagement, "There is so much incredible talent right here in Orange County! At Segerstrom Center for the Arts we are committed to working with and supporting local artists. We want them staying in Orange County; living, working and creating in our community. It brings value to our cities, it attracts businesses and it brings us all together! OC Center Stage is another forum for us to shine a light on the diverse wealth of artists in our area and will hopefully serve to inspire and propel these artists further towards their goals."

Segerstrom Center for the Arts is an acclaimed arts institution as well as a beautiful multi-disciplinary cultural campus. It is committed to supporting artistic excellence, offering unsurpassed experiences and to engaging the entire community in new and exciting ways through the unique power of live performance and a diverse array of inspiring arts-based education and community engagement programs.

Previously called the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Segerstrom Center is Orange County's largest non-profit arts organization. In addition to its six performance venues, Segerstrom Center is also home to the American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School.

The Center presents a broad range of programming for audiences of all ages, including international ballet and dance, national tours of top Broadway shows, jazz and cabaret, contemporary artists, classical music performed by renowned chamber orchestras and ensembles, family-friendly programming, free performances open to the public from outdoor movie screenings to dancing on the plaza and many other special events.

Segerstrom Center is a leader among the nation's performing arts centers for providing education programs designed to inspire young people through the arts. The Center's programs reach hundreds of thousands of students each year in five Southern California counties. Community engagement programs developed through the Center for Dance and Innovation and Center Without Boundaries also connect the Center more comprehensively with Orange County's many diverse communities. The CDI supports flagship artistic programming and a wide range of projects that celebrate innovation, nurture creativity and engage audiences of the future. It is home to the ABT Gillespie School and the School of Dance and Music for Children with Disabilities. The Center Without Boundaries develops partnerships with non-cultural organizations to help them in their own efforts to respond to the ever-changing needs of the community.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts is also proud to serve as the artistic home to three of the region's major performing arts organizations: Pacific Symphony, Philharmonic Society of Orange County and Pacific Chorale, who contribute greatly to the artistic life of the region with annual seasons performed at Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

In addition to Segerstrom Center for the Arts as a presenting and producing institution, it also identifies the beautiful 14-acre campus that embraces the Center's own facilities as well as two independently acclaimed organizations: Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory and a site designated as the future home of the Orange County Museum of Art.