Florencia Cuenca, Amina Faye, Claire Kwon, Carson Stewart and More to Join the Lineup for
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!
A Concert Presenting the Winners of the
2024-2025 Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge
for High School Students
Broadway Stars Premiere Winning Songs in Concert
on June 16 in NYC;
Watch at arts.gov and namt.org
Washington, DC and New York, NY— The Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge for High School Students, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, returns to the stage with CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!, a concert celebrating the winning songs by high school songwriters from across the country. Musical theater fans will have the chance to see these fully orchestrated arrangements performed by Broadway artists such as Florencia Cuenca, Amina Faye, Claire Kwon, Carson Stewart and more on June 16 at 7:30 p.m. ET at New World Stages in New York City. The concert will also be available through a livestream at arts.gov/songwriting and namt.org/challenge.
The Winning Student Songwriters
The 2024-2025 winners represent six states and were selected by a panel of leaders in the musical theater field from 90 submissions: (grades and schools are as of the 2024-2025 school year)
- Judah Brown, an 11th grade student at Owasso Preparatory Academy in Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Gwendellyn Doerfler, a 12th grade student at Dewitt High School in Dewitt, Michigan
- Sydney Gray, a 12th grade student at Fairhope High School in Fairhope, Alabama
- Leela Kumar, an 11th grade student at Howell High School in Marlboro, New Jersey
- Ali Lewis, a 12th grade student at Mercy McAuley High School in Cincinnati, Ohio
- Sadie Shapiro, a 12th grade student at Montclair Kimberley Academy in Scotch Plains, New Jersey
- Elaina Stuppler, an 11th grade student at Lakeridge High School in Lake Grove, Oregon
- Karsten Wallace, an 11th grade student at Bob Jones High School in Madison, Alabama
Excerpts of the winning song submissions and more information about the winners are available at namt.org. Winning students will come to New York City this weekend where they will work with mentors and musicians to hone their orchestrations while learning about process, technique and production. The 2025 Music Team includes Music Supervisor Dylan Glatthorn, Music Director Anessa Marie Scolpini, and mentors Andrea Daly, Timothy Huang and Jaime Lozano. The winning songs will be orchestrated by Faye Chiao, Teresa Lotz and Anessa Marie Scolpini. The concert casting director is Michael Cassara, CSA. More information about the Songwriting Challenge mentors is available here.
Broadway Stars Perform Winning Songs
The final compositions will be performed by Broadway artists for CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!, a concert on Monday, June 16, at 7:30 p.m. ET, available to watch live and on-demand at arts.gov/songwriting and namt.org/challenge. In addition, each winning student will receive a scholarship of $2,500, provided by the NMPA S.O.N.G.S. Foundation.
At the June 16 concert, each student songwriter and their mentor will premiere the winning songs, which will then be performed by a cast featuring:
- Gabi Carrubba (Dear Evan Hansen)
- Florencia Cuenca (Real Women Have Curves)
- Michelle Dowdy (Hairspray)
- Amina Faye (SIX The Musical, Nat’l Tour)
- Claire Kwon (Maybe Happy Ending)
- Carson Stewart (The Notebook)
- Luke Islam (America’s Got Talent)
MEDIA RSVP: Media who wish to attend this event should contact Emily Vortherms (emily@namt.org).
About the Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge
The 2024-2025 Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge kicked off last fall. Throughout the winter, students had access to online masterclasses and coaching sessions, among other educational resources. Students submitted a draft of their songs and received personalized feedback from successful musical theater artists, musicians, administrators and educators. Students then revised their songs before entering their compositions for final judging. Overall, 90 submissions were received by students from 27 states.
A committee of leaders in the musical theater field reviewed the submissions and scored them based on published criteria: Avi Amon, Larson Grant Winning Composer (NY); Geri Auriemma, The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation (WA); Caley Beretta, Disney Theatrical Group (NY); Jim Colleran, Concord Theatricals (NY); Dylan Glatthorn, NAMT Festival Alumni Writer and MTSC Music Supervisor (NY); Lauren Grajewski, Harper Collins Productions (NY); Timothy Huang, NAMT Festival Alumni Writer and MTSC Mentor (NY); Terrance Jackson, Asolo Repertory Theatre (FL); Susan Lee, Broadway Education Alliance (NY); Cathy Masie, Masie Productions (NY); Irvin Mason Jr., NAMT Festival Emerging Artists Alumni and Director (NY); Henry Platt, Warner Chappell Music (NY); Kalani Queypo, NAMT Festival Alumni Writer (CA); Anessa Marie Scolpini, MTSC Music Director (NY); Brad Willcuts, Michigan State University (MI); Jacob Yandura, NAMT Festival Alumni Writer (NY); Jean-Paul Yovanoff, Musical Theatre Radio (ON).
The 2024-2025 Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge is held in collaboration with Concord Theatricals, Disney Theatrical Group, NMPA S.O.N.G.S. Foundation and The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation.
The Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge is designed to inspire high school students to write songs that could be part of a musical theater production, using the wide range of musical styles represented in contemporary musicals. The goal of the program is to engage the musical theater field in nurturing the next generation of songwriters. Learn more about past winners and hear their final songs at arts.gov/songwriting.
The Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge is open to high school students from all 50 states, Washington D.C. and U.S. territories. For more information on how to participate and to access songwriting tools and resources, visit namt.org/challenge.
About the National Endowment for the Arts
Established by Congress, the National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that is the largest funder of the arts and arts education in communities nationwide and a catalyst of public and private support for the arts. By advancing opportunities for arts participation and practice, the NEA fosters and sustains an environment in which the arts benefit everyone in the United States. To learn more, visit arts.gov.
About the National Alliance for Musical Theatre
The National Alliance for Musical Theatre, founded in 1985, is a not-for-profit organization serving the musical theatre community. Its mission is to be a catalyst for nurturing musical theatre development, production, innovation and collaboration. Their 150 organizational members and 60 individual members, located throughout 31 states and eight countries abroad, are some of the leading producers of musical theatre in the world and include theatres, presenting organizations, higher education programs and individual producers. Among the 300 musicals launched by NAMT’s Annual Festival of New Musicals are Come From Away, Lempicka, The Drowsy Chaperone, Lizard Boy, Teeth, WANTED (fka Gun & Powder), King of Pangea, Benny & Joon, Darling Grenadine, Ordinary Days, It Shoulda Been You and Thoroughly Modern Millie, among many others, representing 575 writers. Discover more at namt.org.