After Michael Starr finished singing the last note of “On the Street Where You Live” from “My Fair Lady,” the five members of Sonoma’s Cultural & Fine Arts Commission knew they had what they had been looking for in one of the young resident artists in Sonoma.
While Sonoma’s Cultural & Fine Arts Commission has offered an award to area high school seniors for many years, this year the commission decided to revamp the program with a larger prize and to open the award to any Sonoma resident ages 16-22.
“I was stunned by the quality of the submissions we received,” said Commissioner Pam Personette. “Both the quantity and quality were impressive.” The Sonoma Cultural & Fine Arts Commission received nominations and submissions in visual arts, literary arts and performing arts. It was a long process comparing candidates across such diverse fields of artistic pursuit, made harder by the outstanding quality of the entrants. The announcement of the winner was delayed by several weeks to allow the commissioners the appropriate time to evaluate every single entry received.
“The artistic community of Sonoma, particularly those involved in the teaching and training of young artists, should be extremely proud of the caliber of the young artists here,” says new Sonoma Cultural & Fine Arts Commissioner Lisa Carlsson.
Entrants were asked to submit three to five examples of their work, an explanation of their chosen field of artistic study and, in the case of performing artists, if possible, to set a time to audition before members of the commission.
“What struck us about Michael were not only his amazing singing voice and stage presence, but also his composure when auditioning and the extent of his resume of theatrical productions. A key criterion for us was also the future plans of the candidates. Because the award was designed to help further a student’s artistic training, we were looking for students who had solid plans to continue their studies or training in their field.” Explained Sonoma Cultural & Fine Arts Commission’s Vice Chair Gerry Simmel, “In choosing Michael Starr, the commissioners were not only impressed by his broad talents, but also by his positive plans to further these talents and seek a career in the creative arts. We hope that our award will help him achieve his goals and look forward to hearing of his future success.”
Starr grew up in Sonoma and is now a senior at Justin-Sienna High School in Napa. “My passion for the performing arts started as a child when I attended summer camps at The Sebastiani Theatre,” explained Starr. As a teen, he volunteered as a camp counselor at the Rhoten Summer Camps, “to give back to those who helped shape who I am today.”
He credits tap dancing lessons from Amee Alioto starting at 6 years old and voice lessons from Cat Austin, Richard Riley and now Diego Garcia. He was also active with Kate Kennedy’s Savvy Players.
In his time at Justin-Sienna High School, Starr has auditioned for and received roles in six musicals and five plays, playing the lead part in seven of these productions. “These roles have given me confidence and inspired me to dig deeper and to stretch beyond my comfort zone,” he said. His most recent roles included Matthew Poncelet in “Dead Man Walking,” Don Lockwood in “Singing in the Rain” and Marius in “Les Miserables.”
During the summer months, in recent years, he has participated in intensive musical theater workshops at both ACT in San Francisco and at University of California, Los Angeles as part of the U.S. Performing Arts Camp. In 2009, he also attended the Globe Academy Shakespearean Workshops hosted by University of California, Davis.
Starr spent several weeks this winter traveling around the country auditioning for performing arts programs at a wide variety of colleges. He has already been accepted at five colleges including University of California, Los Angeles but is waiting to hear from three others and he is planning on continuing to perform on the stage in college.
The Sonoma Cultural & Fine Arts Commision is comprised of Chair Lorna Sheridan, Vice Chair Gerry Simmel, Kari Ontko, Pamela Personette, Linda Ransom and Kathy Swett. Longtime member Lois Gordon retired from the Sonoma Cultural & Fine Arts Commission after the student award vote and has since been replaced by Alternate Lisa Carlsson.
Applications for the 2011 Sonoma Cultural & Fine Arts Commission Student Creative Arts Award will be available in late 2010.
