PYLUSD high school students nominated for OC Artist of the Year 61 times

The Orange County Register announced the 2023 nominees for their annual Artist of the Year awards on Sunday, March 19. Each artist is nominated for a specific category, which includes fine arts, dance, film and TV, theater, media arts, instrumental music, and vocal music. This year, Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District (PYLUSD) high school students were nominated 61 times in the seven disciplines. The names of this year’s PYLUSD nominees are listed below: 

DANCE (2) 
– Coco Mangisi, Valencia
– Kaytlin Stinnett, Valencia

FILM & TV (11) 
– Jason George, El Dorado
– Nicolas Eric Tung, El Dorado
– Cooper Rey Kawase Cuya, El Dorado
– Tahlia Pompel, El Dorado
– Karina Ramirez, El Dorado
– Yishai Bellgreene, Valencia
– Lindsay Nicole Carren, Valencia
– Catherine Arriaza, Valencia
– Hunaina Hirji, Yorba Linda
– Natalie Neal, Yorba Linda (pictured)
– Magdalena Aparicio, Yorba Linda

FINE ARTS (10)
– Henry Mack, El Dorado
– Dane Michael Abbott, El Dorado
– Aiden Brunelle, El Dorado
– Jaiden Smith, El Dorado
– Taytum Lihn Teague, El Dorado
– Catherine Cummings, Esperanza
– Kate Lee, Esperanza
– Janey McIntire, Esperanza
– Mariam Youssef, Esperanza
– Drake Hammond, Yorba Linda

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC (12)
– Gabriel Haraldson-Decker, Buena Vista
– Benny Carruth, El Dorado
– Brian Keane, El Dorado
– Josiah Yang, El Dorado
– Oliver Peterson, Esperanza
– Noah Seward, Esperanza
– Nathan Lee, Valencia
– Dylan Chen, Valencia
– Leah Jennings, Yorba Linda
– Noor Shmara, Yorba Linda
– Brady Nguyen, Yorba Linda
– Stefanie Bates, Yorba Linda

MEDIA ARTS (15)
– JT Moffett, El Dorado
– Sabrina Morford, El Dorado
– Christian Qsar, El Dorado
– Abigail Watson, El Dorado
– Emma Snodgrass, El Dorado
– Naomi Campos, El Dorado
– Ian Gille, El Dorado
– Nathan Hernanadez, El Dorado
– Julia Steen, El Dorado
– Nathalia Ibeth Aguilar, Valencia
– Kevin A. Richey, Valencia
– Kaytlin Stinnett, Valencia
– Drake Hammond, Yorba Linda
– Sofia Stewart, Yorba Linda
– Magdalena Aparicio, Yorba Linda

THEATER ARTS (6)
– Lucia Cavalluzzi, El Dorado
– Zachary Colby, El Dorado
– Sofia Candela, El Dorado
– Ashley Huang, El Dorado
– Addison Hughes, El Dorado
– Blake Schalliol, El Dorado

VOCAL MUSIC (5)
– Joshua Knight, El Dorado
– Akila Rao, El Dorado
– Abigail Braun, Esperanza
– Audrey Almeida, Esperanza
– Namrata Manikandan, Valencia

All 721 Orange County nominees from 50 participating high schools and arts organizations were recognized by their teachers and private instructors for their outstanding abilities. After the nomination process, a panel of arts educators will conduct in-person interviews to choose the Artist of the Year semi-finalists. The awards’ semi-finalists will be published on Sunday, April 23. The Artists of the Year from each discipline will be announced on Sunday, April 30. 

Congratulations to all PYLUSD students who received nominations for their hard work and noteworthy artistry! We wish them the best in moving forward to the semifinals. Click the link below to view the full list of Orange County Artist of the Year nominees.

Orange County high school Artist of the Year nominees announced