Young Vocalist Sings Her Way Into Spotlight Award

Gasping and squealing as she recounted her triumph in a prestigious performing arts scholarship competition for high school students, 18-year-old Laurie Rubin was no less thrilled the next afternoon as she was Tuesday night at the ninth annual Music Center Spotlight Awards at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

With a smile that rarely left her face, the singer, who is blind, remembered how she felt when she heard her opponent’s name called as the runner-up in their classical voice category, realizing then that she had won.

“I really wasn’t expecting to win,” Encino resident Rubin said Wednesday. “Jeffrey [Kim] has a beautiful voice.”

After three years of participating in the Spotlight competition, the senior at Oakwood School in North Hollywood finally won $5,000, what she called “the whole enchilada,” in her final attempt--a grand finale to her high school years and a fine beginning to a promising career.

“She has a beautiful voice,” said Marvellee Cariaga, a vocal teacher and a longtime Spotlight judge. “What I felt were these incredible heartfelt emotions.”

Sponsored since 1988 by the Music Center, the Spotlight Awards are designed to encourage high school students who excel in the performing and visual arts.

The competition, which is open to all Southern California students, requires several auditions and weeks of classes with performing professionals.

Other winners included Thang Dao, 18, of Los Angeles, in the jazz/modern dance category; Jeremy Schrock, 18, of San Bernardino, in the musical theater/pop voice category; U-Jung Jung, 18, of Fullerton, a pianist in the classical instrument category; Brandon Owens, of Lakewood, a bass player in the jazz instrumental category; and Alina McHugh, 16, of Huntington Beach, in the ballet category.