TWO LAPC THEATRE STUDENTS WIN NATIONAL KENNEDY CENTER AWARDS
LAPC Theatre is excited and proud to announce that two of its students – Topher Ngo and Roya Row – have won National Awards from the 2021-22 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, which was held virtually on May 21. Topher and Roya are the first LAPC Theatre students to win KCACTF National Awards in the history of LA Pierce College.
Topher Ngo won the National VASTA Award for Vocal Excellence in Performance as well as the National Partners of the American Theatre Classical Acting Award. The VASTA Award for Vocal Excellence in Performance is presented in recognition of outstanding acting and voice work. Recipients are awarded a $500 scholarship and a year's membership in VASTA, the Voice and Speech Trainer's Association. VASTA is an international organization dedicated to advancing the highest standards of voice and speech use and artistry in all professional arenas. VASTA promotes the concept that the art of the voice and speech specialist is integral to the successful teaching of acting and to the development of all professional voice users.
The National Partners American Theatre (NAPAT) is an organization of individuals and institutions dedicated to helping support the activities of the next generation of theatre artists. NAPAT is a separate organization from KCACTF; however many of our members have long-standing ties with KCACTF and each year through the mechanism of the KCACTF Festivals the Partners fund a variety of Scholarship Awards. NAPAT believes that the best acting stems from a classical base, and this award was created to encourage and reward Excellence in Classical Acting. Topher, along with his Competition Acting Partner, fellow LAPC Theatre student Olga Medkova, will be traveling to Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center to accept their awards in August.
“Topher has an incredible work ethic,” said Shaheen Vaaz, LAPC Theatre Professor and acting coach. “He also is supremely talented and hugely compassionate. With all of that, he’s a dream to work with and I’m not surprised he’s having such success.”
Roya Row was awarded a National Scholarship from the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) Directing Initiative. SDC is the theatrical union that unites, empowers and protects professional Stage Directors and Choreographers throughout the United States. Founded in 1959, SDC has spent the last six decades fighting for the rights and livelihoods of these seminal artists. The SDC Directing Initiative provides recognition, honor, and financial assistance to outstanding student directors who have demonstrated success in direction. Roya will also receive a one year Associate Membership in SDC, which underwrites the National Awards, which are the result of a unique collaboration between SDC and KCACTF. Roya will also be traveling to The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in August.
“Roya is emerging as a truly assured artist with a singular, dynamic vision and huge leadership potential,” Vaaz said.
Congratulations to both Roya and Topher!
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