“I feel like I lost an entire year of my life due to COVID and the quarantine,” Navarro said. “A gap year will be the perfect opportunity to gain some vocal and intellectual maturity.”
She plans on staying active, however, with intentions of traveling to Europe and furthering her singing career, taking some courses at Pasadena City College and working on her repertoire.
“After that I would love to attend the Curtis Institute of Music or Juilliard,” Navarro added.
Grace is the daughter of Greg Navarro and Dr. Kristin Karlyn-Navarro. Her 18-year-old brother, David, is a freshman at Loyola Marymount University, where he studies finance. Grace dreams of becoming an international opera singer.
The Music Center named 16 semifinalists in each of seven categories, which include acting, ballet, dance, classical voice, non-classical voice, classical instrumental and jazz instrumental. This year, nearly 1,500 teens representing more than 275 schools, 194 cities and eight counties auditioned for the prestigious program.
Notable Spotlight alumni include Tony Award-winner Lindsay Mendez, American Ballet Theatre’s principal dancer Misty Copeland, Emmy Award-winning composer Kris Bowers and major recording artists Josh Groban and Adam Lambert, among many others. Recent Spotlight finalists appeared as guest performers during Groban’s first livestream holiday concert in December 2020, which was viewed by an international audience.
Spotlight semifinalists have the opportunity to attend a special mastery class in their discipline with artists, who share their expertise on performance technique, training and professional life and also provide students with feedback on their performances. Each semifinalist will audition virtually again before a new panel of judges, who will then select the top two finalist performers in each category for a total of 14 grand prize finalists. The grand prize finalists will perform virtually on May 22.
Student Advances In Spotlight Program
