Announcing the Program Mentors and Cast for Challenge Accepted! A Concert Presenting the Winners of the Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge 
 

New York, NY—A special concert next week will feature live performances by Broadway artists of the seven winning songs from the 2023-2024 Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the National Alliance for Musical Theatre for high school students to develop and showcase musical compositions that could be a part of a musical theater production. Musical theater fans will have the chance to see these fully orchestrated arrangements performed live by Broadway artists such as Telly Leung, Desi Oakley, and Shereen Pimentel, during Challenge Accepted! A Concert Presenting the Winners of the Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge for High School Students on June 17 at 7 p.m. ET at the Irene Diamond Stage at the Pershing Square Signature Center in New York City. The concert will also be available through a livestream at arts.gov/songwriting and namt.org/challenge.

The winning songwriters—one duo and six individuals—were selected by a panel of leaders in the musical theater field from more than 100 submissions and hail from seven states:

• Gwendellyn Doerfler (Dewitt, MI)
• Ale Fonseca (Miami, FL)
• Sydney Gray (Fairhope, AL)
• Tabitha Moore (Valley Stream, NY)
• Isabella Nguyen & Maya Johnson (Little Rock, AR)
• Luisa Paraguassu (Mooresville, NC)
• Owen Yeh-Lee (Palo Alto, CA)

Each winning song was professionally orchestrated by a team that included:

• Dylan Glatthorn (music supervisor)
• Anessa Marie (music director & orchestrator)
• Teresa Lotz (orchestrator)
• Jesse J. Sanchez (orchestrator)

Each winner was also assigned a songwriter who served as a mentor to help them hone their orchestrations while learning about process, technique, and production. The 2024 mentors are: 

• Joey Contreras
• Timothy Huang
• Zeniba Now

At the June 17 concert, each winning songwriter and their mentor will introduce songs, which will then be performed by a cast featuring:

• Senzel Ahmady (Tour: Aladdin)
• Dominic Dorset (Tour: Frozen)
• Timothy Huang (Costs of Living, NAMT Fest '15)
• Amy Keum (KPOP)
• Ashley LaLonde (Tour: Hamilton)
• Telly Leung (Allegiance, Godspell)
• Desi Oakley (West End: Waitress)
• Stephanie Machado (CBS: Evil)
• Katryna Marttala (Hot Girls Write Musicals)
• Zeniba Now (2024 Woman to Watch on Broadway)
• Shereen Pimentel (West Side Story)

In addition, all of the winning songs will be compiled into a songbook and print-at-home edition by Concord Theatricals and released at a future date. The 2023-2024 Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge is held in collaboration with Concord Theatricals, Disney Theatrical Productions, and NMPA S.O.N.G.S. Foundation.

MEDIA RSVP:  Media who wish to attend this event should contact Liz Auclair (auclaire@arts.gov) and Emily Vortherms (emily@namt.org).

About the Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge

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.