Young Performers Program

This year’s winners are 17-year-old Lawrence Carter from Pasco County and 22-year-old Sarah Redheffer from Marion County for their excellence in dance performance, 18-year-old Ian Hayden from Broward County and 20-year-old Hailey Buxton from Seminole County in the drama/theatre category and for the first time ever, we have selected three winners in the music category- 18-year-old Sarah Hardwig (vocals) from Collier County, 19-year-old Carson Monticello (vocals) from Nassau County, and 18-year-old Kevin Franco (drums) from Hillsborough County.

More about the winners:

Lawrence Carter fell in love with music and movement by the time he was seven years old. Following a brief summer camp introduction, he was enrolled in year-round classes in ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, lyrical and musical theatre at Kelly’s Dance Academy in New Port Richey, Florida. By the time he was 10, Lawrence was dancing with a competitive team, giving him a chance to meet other male dancer role models who would inspire him to continue his intense training. Since age 11, Lawrence has increased his invested time to training 5-6 days per week and is an active member of the Universal Movement Competition Team and CBT Ballet Company at Mary Jo’s Performing Arts Academy. As a member of these organizations, Lawrence has competed in the Youth American Grand Prix ballet competitions of 2019 and 2020. To date, his repertoire with MJPAA includes Sleeping Beauty Ballet, Snow White, Alice in Wonderland and The Nutcracker. Most recently, Lawrence was accepted into the 2020 summer intensive program with Bolshoi Ballet Academy in N.Y.C., but unfortunately was unable to attend due to the pandemic. Lawrence lives to dance and dances to live; he plans to pursue a college degree in pursuit of a professional dance career.

Sarah Redheffer began her dance career at the age of six with the Marion Ballet Theatre. After graduating high school, she gravitated towards a contemporary movement exploration and pursued her BFA in Dance from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. From 2018-2019, Sarah studied abroad in Israel at the Jerusalem Academy of music and dance which helped her evolve at the international level. Like so many budding artists during the past year, Sarah’s original plans were interrupted due to the pandemic. Nevertheless, she has completed her 200-Hour Vinyasa Yoga Certification and teaches dance at a small studio. Sarah states: “I think it is important to make small steps towards maintaining a creative practice.” Sarah describes her “professional aspirations are to work with a collaborative dance company and learn from other artists before moving…into making my own choreographic work and movement research.”

Hailey Buxton began participating in musical theatre performances in her freshman year at Seminole High School in Pinellas Park. With roles in High School Musical, Cinderella and the Wizard of Oz, she was equipped to begin working with the local community theatre, Theatre eXceptional, whose mission is to raise awareness and eliminate the stigma so often placed on disability and mental illness. Hailey, who has autism, has taken lead roles in Oliver, Bye, Bye Birdie and Our Town. Her competition samples were varied in style and character roles expressing her vocal and theatrical range. She aspires to attend St. Petersburg College and the University of South Florida to continue her theatrical training.

Ian Hayden is a graduating senior of South Broward High School. He is an accomplished actor, despite having been born prematurely with underdeveloped lungs and diagnosed with autism at age four. He began his training in 2012 at the Art and Culture Center in Hollywood, Florida. His early roles there included Shrek in Shrek Junior, Gaston in Beauty and the Beast Junior, and as the Cat in Seussical. At the onset of high school, Ian joined the drama club performing in theatre events both on and off campus. Since then, his oeuvre includes dramatic and comedic monologues, duets as well as ensemble performances. In 2018, he was inducted into the International Thespian Society. Most recently he has been working on several independent online voice acting projects. Ian states: “I hope to be cast for large-scale productions in the future, not only to make a living off of it, but also to have as much fun as I can.”

Sarah Hardwig performed her first solo at her kindergarten graduation. Her music teacher identified her with perfect pitch and told her parents she had a future in music. Sarah attends Naples High School as a senior and sings with her school and church choirs.

She has performed the national anthem well over one hundred times, including at Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Orioles games. Sarah has been a member of the Naples Philharmonic Youth Choir for nine years and has been taking acoustic guitar lessons with a former Nashville songwriter. Sarah travels to Nashville annually for the Country Music Association Festival, and through dedicated networking has met top songwriters and musicians. She is associated with music publisher BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) and is a member of the Nashville Songwriters Association International. Sarah started writing her own songs a few years ago. She has recently been accepted in Belmont University’s Songwriting program. Sarah, who is blind, is known throughout southwest Florida for her talent, and her positive message is inspirational to many.

Carson Monticello gravitated to music and singing from a young age. She competed in her first talent show at eleven years performing "Think of Me" from Phantom of the Opera. Although she did not win in that first competition, she remembers that “[it’s] not about winning, it's about being brave enough to get on stage and sing for other people.” Since then, Carson has participated in several school theatre performances including Legally Blonde Jr., the Musical and Check, Please. Our judges described Carson as having a developed stage presence with a voice filled with emotional content. Carson wishes to continue her training as she works
towards her goals of performing on Broadway and professional voice acting.

Kevin Franco was born in Puerto Rico and moved with his family to Florida at the age of eleven. Since he was a baby, he was drawn to making his own sounds and started by using kitchen accessories. Now at eighteen, he describes playing the drums as his passion. Kevin practices each day at home and performs at church on Sundays. He is also versed at playing bass, guitar, and piano sometimes spontaneously during jam sessions. Kevin is apt to learning new technologies for making music by experimenting on a mixer and other computer programs. This versatility in skill hints at Kevin’s future as an aspiring musician and producer. He states: “I want people to know and enjoy the talent that I have and the passion that I have in my life.”