By Lauren Matheny, Lifestyles Editor
Many performance students will head to New York City during Spring Break to participate in the 10 annual Spring Break NYC program.
In mid-December, the OCUNYC alumni organization, who organize the event each year, announced that the workshop would be canceled due to lost funding.
In the weeks that followed many alumni and supporters responded to the announcement.
Peyton Royal, OCU alum and one of the event organizers, said these alumni were able to save the workshop.
“We were approached by a couple alumni who actually had taken part in the workshop as both student participants and alumni volunteers,” Royal said. “They expressed how much they’d gotten from the program and were willing to donate a considerable amount of money to make it happen this year.”
After these donors began the campaign to help fund the workshop, other alumni and supporters stepped in, allowing OCUNYC to craft a revised budget and announce that the event would still happen.
Because of limited planning time and a changed budget, the program has been altered this year.
There will be two days of workshops, which will include the dance and vocal master classes.
The organizers have also retained the Mock Audition, the culminating event of the program where students are able to audition and get feedback from NYC professionals.
Every student in the program will attend all of the classes.
The biggest change this year was the number of students accepted into the program. Forty students were accepted, instead of the more than 100 students who have attended in past years.
The program filled up within 32 seconds into the online sign up.
“This was a concession that we reluctantly had to make,” Royal said. “It ensures quality for our participants given our reduced budget and new time frame. But for the first time, we are opening the doors to our lectures and vocal classes to allow any OCU student to come and audit. A lot can be learned from watching others.”
Students are thankful the program is still happening.
“I still think it will be fun,” said Amy Button, music theater senior. “I’m excited to have such a small group so that we’ll get more one on one attention.”
“Overall, I’m just glad that they were able to work something out and provide a spring break workshop for us again.”
Button has attended the workshops for years.
“We have students who have taken part in the workshop all four years of their college career, and that’s the highest compliment you can give us,” Royal said. “It shows that we’re succeeding in providing classes that aid in their education, challenge them to look at something from a different point of view, or maybe encourage them to adjust their priorities.”
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