National youth music intensive takes place July 16-23
A roster of Broadway performers and top jazz artists will join Michael Feinstein as professional mentors at this year’s Songbook Academy summer intensive, the nation’s leading youth music program focused on the timeless standards of jazz, pop, Broadway and Hollywood.
Now in its 13th year, the Songbook Academy is the flagship education initiative of the Great American Songbook Foundation. Each year 40 top high school vocalists are selected through video auditions to experience a life-changing week of classes, workshops and performances under the guidance of arts and entertainment professionals and leading university educators.
At this year’s Academy, which is returning to an on-site format July 16 to 23 at the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, the entertainment industry mentors will include:
- Michael Feinstein – The five-time Grammy Award nominee and music preservationist is the founder of the Great American Songbook Foundation, known for his piano and vocal work, his signature cabaret clubs across the nation and his projects for public broadcasting. His latest album is Gershwin Country, featuring duets with Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley and other country stars.
- Shereen Ahmed – One of Broadway’s most notable rising stars, the Arab American actor was the first woman of color to play My Fair Lady’s Eliza Doolittle on Broadway. She was recently seen on NBC’s hit show New Amsterdam and is currently starring in the first national tour of Lincoln Center Theater’s production of My Fair Lady.
- Nicole Henry – Henry is acclaimed for her dynamic vocal abilities and peerless interpretations of the American Songbook, classic and contemporary jazz, popular standards, blues and originals. She has sent four albums to the U.S. Billboard, JazzWeek and HMV Japan Top 10, and recently has performed in the new musical A Wonderful World, based on the life of Louis Armstrong.
- James T. Lane – Lane has performed on Broadway in Kiss Me, Kate, King Kong the Musical, The Scottsboro Boys, Chicago and A Chorus Line, and on national tours of Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations, Jersey Boys, Cinderella and Fame the Musical. He also has performed at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops, Ottawa Symphony and other ensembles.
- Aubrey Logan – A singer, songwriter and trombonist, Logan purposely defies definition. Her Top 5 debut album in 2017 and her work on Dave Koz’s 2018 No. 1 album Summer Horns II helped cement her position among the nation’s top young singer-instrumentalists. Her own 2019 album Where the Sunshine Is Expensive hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.
- Anthony Nunziata – Dubbed “America’s new romantic singing sensation,” the classically trained Nunziata brings his soulful tenor voice to classic jazz, pop standards, classical-crossover and his own original music. He appeared in the Netflix film The Last Laugh with Chevy Chase and Richard Dreyfuss and recently co-headlined Carnegie Hall for two sold-out concerts with the New York Pops.
Public events this year will include the Public Masterclass with Feinstein and Henry on July 20, showcase performances on July 21 and the climactic final concert at 7 p.m. Saturday, July 23, presented by the Center for the Performing Arts. Each will take place before a live audience at the Center’s Palladium concert hall and will be streamed live for viewers worldwide.
For the July 20 and 21 events, on-site tickets and livestream registration are pay-what-you-can with no minimum price. For the final concert, on-site tickets start at just $25, and the livestream option is pay-what-you-can with a $10 minimum. Tickets go on sale June 3 at TheCenterPresents.org or (317) 843-3800.
The Songbook Academy is sponsored nationally by the Efroymson Family Fund and also supported by the City of Carmel. The Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation Mentor Champions support the involvement of a national faculty of music directors and professional vocal coaches who will be announced later this spring.
About the Great American Songbook Foundation
The mission of the Great American Songbook Foundation, founded in 2007 by five-time Grammy Award nominee Michael Feinstein, is to inspire and educate by celebrating the timeless standards of pop, jazz, Broadway and Hollywood. Headquartered at the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, Indiana, the Foundation advances this rich legacy by curating physical artifacts of its creators, performers and publishers in the Songbook Library & Archives; operating a multimedia exhibit gallery; overseeing the Songbook Hall of Fame; offering programs for the public and research opportunities for scholars and artists; and providing educational opportunities for student musicians, including the annual Songbook Academy summer intensive. The Foundation is a Cultural Affiliate of the Los Angeles-based Grammy Museum. More information is available at TheSongbook.org.