Arthur C. Greene Rising Star Awards
On Sunday, March 25, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Charlottesville hosted the 21st Annual Arthur C. Greene Rising Star Awards at Vinegar Hill Theatre. The program was previously run by the Piedmont Council for the Arts, but they graciously transferred to Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville in the fall of 2017. For 21 years, Charlottesville and Albemarle County have celebrated junior and senior high school students who excel in the arts by honoring them with the award. Arthur C. Greene was an actor, director, and Professor of Drama at the University of Virginia from 1960-1992. He devoted a large part of his life to encouraging the talents of young people, and the awards were named in his honor.
In 2017, local teachers and art non-profits nominated students for the Rising Star Award. The fifteen artists nominated were: Rachel Beling, Laura Bendick, Ashley Clark, Sammie Cohen, Gabriella DeGennaro, Nakiya Dowell, Katie Goldstein, Chloe Horner, Nathan Jordan, Paul Norton, Baylina Pu, Elena Schmelter, Parker Sullivan, Lauren Waters, and Deveny Watson.
The afternoon was filled with wonderful performances by various local young artists. The talents included: playing piano, writing and reading poems, art, and singing. The artists who performed were:
- Parker Sullivan – keyboard and vocal: (improvisation)
- Nathan Jordan – keyboard: Rachmaninoff’s Elegie, Op. 3 No. 1.
- Gabriella DeGennaro – artwork display: Unleash the Beast, Silence
- Baylina Pu – poem: Hunger, Water as a Young Girl, Hidden Name
- Rachel Beling – poem: Theories of Inheritance
- Chloe Horner – vocal: I’m Not That Girl, from the musical Wicked
- Elena Schmelter – vocal: (song unknown)
- Nakiya Dowell – vocal: When You’re Good To Mama, from the musical Chicago
- Ashley Clark – poem: Instructions for: My Viking Funeral
