The Orange County Register is proud to announce the 2025 semifinalists for Artist of the Year. This year marks the 12th anniversary of this program which was developed as a companion to the annual Athlete of the Year honors.

For each discipline — theater, dance, instrumental music, vocal music, film and TV, fine arts and media arts — 112 semifinalists were chosen by a panel of arts teachers from among 923 nominees based on applications, performance videos, art portfolios, film samples and artistic résumés.

Meet the other semifinalists

Dance
Film & TV
Theater
Instrumental music
Vocal music
Fine arts
Media arts

During the semifinals, students are invited to be interviewed by a panel of distinguished artistic professionals and faculty members from Southern California colleges. Interviews include a live presentation by the student followed by a conversation with the student.

Students are represented in two divisions. Divisions were developed so that students have not had the opportunities for extra training also have opportunities to be a part of the semifinals.  A minimum of two Division 2 students are guaranteed to be invited to be semifinalists.  The two divisions are based on the number of years of training a student has in their art form. For instance, instrumental students with five or more years of training in school and in private lessons are placed in Division 1, and students with less than 5 years of training are placed in Division 2.

Of the 112 semifinalists, up to 28 finalists will be identified, four in each discipline and at least one Division 2 student will be named as a finalist. In addition, one student from each discipline, seven in total, will be named as a 2025 Artist of the Year — the top honor for this program.

The finalists and Artists of the Year will be announced next Sunday, April 27 online and in print in a special section of The Orange County Register.

On Wednesday, May 7, an awards celebration will be held at Memorial Hall on the campus of Chapman University and is free and open to the public. This event will include performances and presentations by the top students.

This program is generously sponsored by the Chapman University College of Performing Arts and Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Additional support is provided by Arts Orange County and individual donors.

If you would like to support Artist of the Year with a donation, you can contribute here. Donations will be made to Arts Orange County on behalf of Artist of the Year.

If you are interested in helping Artist of the Year grow by becoming a sponsor of this program, send an email to ocartistoftheyear@aoy.scng.com.

Click on the links below to see the photos and lists for semifinalists:

Dance
Film and TV
Fine arts
Instrumental music
Media arts
Theater
Vocal music