16 Students Named Finalists in Slaughter Family Arts Awards

The 2021 Slaughter Family Arts Awards announced their finalists on Wednesday, March 31, and 16 FWCD students are finalists! Winners will be announced on social media on Monday, April 12. Those winners will be invited to a special socially distanced ceremony on Saturday, April 17, and awarded a $500 scholarship.

FWCD finalists are: 

Excellence in Dance: Performance

Kaylee Chisholm ’22

Rocco Leoni ’23

Excellence in Dance: Choreography

Janie Bradford ’21

Sydney Cyprian ’22

Excellence in Voice: Classical Performance

Jessica Tomasic ’23

Excellence in Voice: Pop Music Performance

Leena Keylani ’24

Rocco Leoni ’23

Excellence in Music: Classical Solo Instrumental Performance (5 total)

Samuel Asprilla ’23

Matthew Lobo ’23

Reshma Niraula ’22

Excellence in Music:  Jazz Solo Instrumental Performance (3 total)

Samuel Asprilla ’23

Rocco Leoni ’23

Alex Nolan ’23

Excellence in Music: Contemporary Solo Instrumental Performance

Rocco Leoni ’23

Alex Nolan ’23

Excellence in Theatre: Monologue Performance

Janie Bradford ’21

Excellence in Theatre: Musical Theatre Vocal Performance (8 total)

Jazmine Gomez ’22

Rocco Leoni ’23

Sadie Schuster ’22

Excellence in Theatre: Technical Theatre

Walker Smith ’21

Excellence in Photography (7 total finalists)

Sydney Cyprian ’22

Caroline Grebe ’23

Charlie Ozaeta ’22

Josh Ozaeta ’22

This year, the Slaughter Family Arts Awards received 163 submissions from students at five member schools: All Saints’ Episcopal School, Fort Worth Country Day, Nolan Catholic High School, Trinity Valley School and Southwest Christian School.

Overseen by Kate Lovelady, SFAA Head of Awards, judging is outsourced and completed by local artists highly experienced in each of the award categories. Using forms that include pre-determined rubrics, each piece is judged anonymously (without students’ names or school attached). Based on a points system, the scores are averaged to determine the winner.

Founded in 2020 by Rebecca (Shaw) ’02 and J Mack Slaughter ’02, the Slaughter Family Arts Awards (SFAA) celebrates and recognizes talent and dedication in students with a passion for the arts. The Slaughters formed the arts organization to give back to students in member school, through both scholarship and performance opportunities, to students who love the arts in school or out of school.

A $500 scholarship accompanies each award. Students in grades 9-12 were invited to visit SFAAwards.org/submissions through March 15 to submit a video or photo representing their artistic talent.