Congratulations!
DANCE
Sydney Bridgewater, Frisco, 9th, Dance
Emmalynne Brown, Richmond, 10th, Dance
Matthew Conway, Prosper, 9th, Dance
Joseph Kirillov, Prosper, 10th, Dance
Caroline McGowan, Dallas, 10th, Dance
FILM - MEDIA ARTS / LITERARY ARTS
Emilia Tovar-Catete, Mission, 11th, Film/Media Arts
Jenny Chu, Dallas, 11th, Literary Arts
MUSIC / MUSICAL THEATRE
Isabella Cervera, San Antonio, 11th, Musical Theatre
Josephine Chow, Austin, 11th, Music
Alessandro Dieguez, Amarillo, 10th, Musical Theatre
Annie Newton, Kingwood, 9th, Music
Hana Reel, The Woodlands, 10th, Music
Elim Wong, Plano, 9th, Music
Ayden Yang, Dallas , 8th, Music
Jonathan Zhang, Houston, 11th, Music
Kris Andrews
Producer / Creative Director
CREW AND PRODUCTION STAFF
Cynthia L. Miller, Scriptwriter
Jamie Bailey, Production Stage Manager
Tammy Ballard, Production Stage Manager
Jenna Stevenson, Production Stage Manager
Lyn Koenning, Musical Director
Marnie Fitzgerald, Graphic Designer
Roadrunner Pictures, Videography
Jonathan Schmid, Projectionist
Technical Production Support by Zach Theater
Sydney Bridgewater (Dance) is in the ninth grade at Frisco High School in Frisco. She started ballet at age five, and expanded into contemporary, jazz, lyrical, ballroom, musical theater, hip hop, and tap at age 11. As a Performing Company member at Next Step Dance Performing Arts in Frisco, she is honored to work with many incredible choreographers, including Ethan Colangelo, Travis Wall, Lauren Adams, Jason Parsons, Jason Ambrose, and Jamey Leverett. She was ranked Top 24 nationally for both Best Dancer at the 2025 Dance Awards and Outstanding Dancer at New York City Dance Alliance. Sydney is the recipient of ballet and contemporary scholarships through the Dance Council of North Texas. She has been privileged to attend select summer and winter intensives, including Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Ballet BC, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Next Generation Ballet, the School of American Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. Sydney hopes to use her Young Masters grant to fund summer 2026 training in the Advanced Program at Alonzo King LINES Ballet in San Francisco.
Emmalynne Brown (Dance) is a 16-year-old sophomore who trains at Fort Bend Academy of Dance. She is also a principal dancer with BalletForte, a pre-professional company. Emmalynne has placed in numerous ballet competitions, most recently in the Top 10 Senior Classical Division at the 2026 American Dance Competition/Youth International Ballet Competition in Houston. Emmalynne is a 2025 Angel Shine Foundation dance scholarship recipient and was named a 2024 Outstanding Junior Soloist by Regional Dance America. She has also enjoyed numerous intensive summer training opportunities over the years, including the Houston Ballet Academy, the American Ballet Theatre
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, and the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in New York City. Emmalynne plans to use her Young Masters grant to return to the Houston Ballet Academy for advanced summer training.
Matthew Conway (Dance) is a freshman at Richland High School in Prosper. He trains at Next Step Dance Performing Arts in Frisco and has won multiple regional and national awards and titles at dance competitions. He has had the opportunity to assist and tour with dance educators and choreographers across the nation. Matthew plans to use his Young Masters grant to attend the Juilliard Summer Dance Intensive this year in New York City to further his dance journey.
Joseph Kirillov (Dance) is a sophomore at Penn Foster Online High School. Based in Prosper, he currently trains at Elite Classical Coaching with Catherine Lewellen. Joseph has won multiple firstplace prizes over the years at the Youth America Grand Prix. Joseph plans to use his Young Masters grant to further his training with summer studies at American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensive in New York City.
Sydney Bridgewater Frisco, 9th Grade Dance
Emmalynne Brown
Richmond, 10th Grade Dance
Matthew Conway Prosper, 9th Grade Dance
Joseph Kirillov Prosper, 10th Grade Dance
Dallas, 10th Grade Dance
Caroline McGowan (Dance) is in the tenth grade at Highland Park High School in Dallas. She currently studies dance at Next Step Dance Performing Arts. Caroline has been awarded numerous awards and recognitions for her dancing including the National Honored Dancer Title from National Dance Honors, Top 10 Best Dancers at the Dance Awards, First Place Contemporary Dancer as well as an invitation to finals with the Youth America Grand Prix, and recognition as a regional Outstanding Dancer with the New York City Dance Alliance. Caroline plans to use her Young Masters grant to study at the Alonzo King Lines Dance Intensive in San Francisco.
Dallas, 11th Grade
Literary Arts
Jenny Chu (Literary Arts/Poetry) is a junior at the Hockaday School in Dallas. A two-time YoungArts winner in Writing/Poetry, she is also a three-time Scholastic Art & Writing Awards national gold and silver medalist, a winner of the 2026 Guernsey International Poetry Competition, and a finalist for NSPA’s Creative Writing Story of the Year, among other honors. She has studied at the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio, the Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship, and the Sewanee Young Writers’ Conference, and her work appears in over 30 literary publications in print and online. She is grateful to be named a 2026 Texas Young Master and plans to use her award to study at a creative writing program this summer at The Kelly Writers House.
Emilia Tovar-Catete (Film/Media Arts) is in the eleventh grade at Mission Collegiate High School. She participates in Art Club, Fresh Films, and local contests including the Texas High School Visual Arts Scholastic Event and the Cultura de Arte Drawing Contest. She created Reflections, an interactive app exploring emotions through visuals. Emilia plans to use her Young Masters grant to study coding and technology skills at Girls Who Code, combining creativity and tech to develop innovative multimedia projects.
Mission, 11th Grade Film/Media Arts
IsabellaCervera (Musical Theatre) is an eleventh grader at the North East School of the Arts in San Antonio, where she is majoring in both dance and musical theater. She has trained extensively in voice, acting, and dance with multiple instructors, and currently studies voice with Edlyn de Oliveira. Isabella’s performance experience spans a range of styles, from opera and musical theatre to contemporary belt and bilingual mariachi performance. Two of her favorite roles include Persephone in Hadestown: Teen Edition and Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls. Isabella is a scholarship recipient of the San Antonio Gardenia Fine Arts Club and the Nexus Scholarship from the Majestic Empire Foundation, recognizing her achievement and dedication to her craft. Isabella plans to pursue a BFA in musical theater and hopes to perform on Broadway. She also aspires to earn a master’s degree in speech language pathology to help singers develop healthy, sustainable vocal technique. She will use her Young Masters grant to attend the ArtsBridge Summer Musical Theater program as she prepares for competitive college auditions.
Caroline McGowan
Jenny Chu
Emilia Tovar-Catete
Isabella Cervera San Antonio
11th Grade Musical Theatre
Josephine Chow (Music-Piano) is a junior at Westwood High School in Austin. She currently studies with Alexander Malikov and Andrei Tcymbalistenko. Josephine was the Texas winner of the 2023-2024 Music Teachers National Association Performance Competition and was recently named one of the 2025-2026 Chopin Foundation of the United States Scholars. She is also a prize winner of the 2024 Spotlight International Piano Competition, 2025 Thousand Islands International Piano Competition, and 2025 International Chopin Youth Competition. Josephine has performed as a soloist with the Las Colinas, Starlight, and Coeur d’Alene symphony orchestras. She has had the opportunity to participate in masterclasses with renowned pianists and professors such as Yoheved Kaplinsky, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, and Hung-Kuan Chen. Josephine will use her Young Masters grant to attend the Juilliard Summer Music Piano intensive in New York City. In the future, Josephine plans to pursue piano performance at the college level.
Annie Newton (Music-Percussion) is a ninth grade student at Kingwood High School. She currently studies with Alec Warren of the University of Houston and JD Guzman of the Houston Latin Jazz Orchestra. She is a member of the top orchestra of the Houston Youth Symphony. Annie plans to use her Young Masters grant to study at the Juilliard Summer Music Percussion program and the Northwestern Percussion Seminar.
Alessandro Dieguez (Musical Theatre) is a tenth grade student at Amarillo High School in Amarillo. He has studied singing, acting, and dance with Amarillo Little Theatre (ALT) since 2019, and has performed in 13 productions with them. He has traveled with ALT to perform in New York City and compete in national competitions in Florida and Kentucky. Alessandro is also a two-time Texas Music Educators Association All-State Choir member, and a 2025 Broadway Evolved alum. He has studied privately with Kristen Loyd at Studio 40 since 2022. Alessandro plans to use his Young Masters grant to attend Oklahoma City University’s High School Musical Theater program.
Reel
The Woodlands 10th Grade Music
Hana Reel (Music-Vocal) is a sophomore at The Woodlands High School, where she is a member of the varsity and chamber choirs. She has been studying voice with Lindsay Russell Bowden. Since she was three years old, she has been immersed in music, playing the violin and the piano. A passionate singer since fourth grade, Hana has achieved the highest vocal honors every year since middle school. In 2025, she was soloist and First Chair as a freshman at the prestigious All-State Texas Music Educators Association High School Mixed Choir. She won third place at the 2025 Houston Masterworks Chorus Young Singer Competition. She also won first place at the Greater Houston National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), and second place at Texoma NATS. Hana enjoys singing for her school’s Federation of Christian Athletes club, and she is a worship leader at her church, utilizing her singing gift to minister to the local community. She plans to use her Young Masters grant to participate in the Juilliard Summer Music program in New York City.
Josephine Chow
Austin, 11th Grade Music
Annie Newton Kingwood, 9th Grade Music
Alessandro Dieguez
Amarillo, 10th Grade
Musical Theatre
Hana
Elim Wong Plano, 9th Grade Music
Elim Wong (Music-Violin) is a ninth grader at Jasper High School in Plano. She is currently under the tutelage of renowned violinist Shannon Lee. Elim made her first appearance as a soloist at the age of 12 and has performed with the Plano Symphony Orchestra and the Lewisville Lake Symphony. Her list of accolades includes National First Prize of the 2024-2025 Music Teachers National Association Competition, Grand Prize in the 2024 Vernell Gregg Young Artists Competition, and Grand Prize of the 2023 Collin County Young Artist Competition. In the upcoming summer, Elim will use her Young Masters grant to study at the Heifetz Institute Summer Program in Staunton, Virginia.
Jonathan Zhang Houston, 11th Grade
Jonathan Zhang (Music-Saxophone) is a junior at the Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) in Houston, where he studies under band director Ogechi Ukazu. He was recently named a 2026 National YoungArts Award Winner in Classical Music/Saxophone. Jonathan began playing saxophone in seventh grade and has since earned top prizes at numerous competitions, including finalist in the 2026 North American Saxophone Alliance High School Solo Competition, finalist in the 2026 Juanita Miller Concerto Competition, winner of the 2025 HSPVA Concerto Competition, finalist in the 2025 Houston Underground Saxophone Competition, first prize in the 2024 American Virtuoso International Music Competition presented by the American Society of Music Excellence, and the Outstanding Performer at the 2024 University Interscholastic League’s Texas State Solo-Ensemble Contest. He plans to use his Young Masters grant to support private saxophone lessons with faculty at Montana State University.
Ayden Yang
8th Grade
AydenYang (Music-Vocal) is a Dallas eighth grader at St. Mark’s School of Texas. He has been singing since the age of six and currently studies with Connor Lidell, St. Mark’s Choir, and the Greater Dallas Choral Society. Ayden has earned top honors in national and regional vocal competitions and recently made his opera debut with the Dallas Opera, performing the title role in The Little Prince. As a Young Master, Ayden plans to use his grant to participate in a choral residency and performance tour as head chorister at Durham Cathedral and Westminster Abbey in the United Kingdom.
ADRIENNE AND CHRIS BOSH
Butler Texas Young Masters Event Chairs
Congratulations to the Butler Texas Young Masters Class of 2026! We are proud to chair this inspiring event and celebrate a talented group of young Texas artists.
HEARTFELT APPRECIATION
We are beyond grateful to Sarah and Dr. Ernest Butler, for their remarkable endowment of the Texas Young Masters. Their generous gift of $2.5 million establishes the first endowment for the program. It is with great appreciation that this program will now be known as the Butler Texas Young Masters. Their visionary support ensures the growth of young artistic talent across the state. Together, we cultivate the next generation of creative brilliance and pave the way for the Texas legends of tomorrow. Thank you for nurturing dreams and inspiring greatness.
Congratulations to the 2026 Class of Butler Texas Young Masters!
Jeanne and Mickey Klein
THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS* THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS*
A
W
ARD UNDER W RITERS
Sarah & Ernest Butler Young Masters Endowment
PRESENTING SPONSORS
Jeanne & Mickey Klein Adrienne & Chris Bosh Sermoonjoy Fund
Leslie Blanton
Sandra Chunn
Aubrey Epstein
Maribel & George Farish
Karen Foster
Robin Gilliland
Brittany Goswami
Sheri Henriksen
Samantha Holiday
HOST COMMITTEE FULL SCHOLARSHIP SPONSORS
Genesis Inspiration Foundation Genesis of West Houston Judy & Kirk Robison
ONE-YEAR SCHOLARSHIP SPONSORS
Barbara Ann Baldridge Foundation
Laura & John Beckworth
Ray Benson
Kelli & Eddy Blanton
Laurie & Marvin Blum
Dickinson Wright PLLC
Kelley & Pat Frost
Gay Gaddis
Mindy Ellmer & Charlie Geren
Dan W. Jackson III & Dr. Jeremy Guiberteau
Alexis & Todd Hunter
Jameen Jacoby
Linda & Steve LaMantia
Muffin Lemak
Elia Mares
Jenny Mason
Christine Mattsson
Bryan McCann
Chondra Mulugheta
Sharon Oeschger
Marti Peterson
Nancy Selgier
Isha Rogers Santamaria
Janet Sherlip
Gabrielle Union-Wade
Gail Gold Tia Mowry
CHAMPION SPONSORS
Patricia Nuss
Kristina Wilkins
BUTLER TEXAS YOUNG MASTERS SUPPORTERS
Tisa & Billy Hibbs / Hibbs-Hallmark Insurance
Nancy Hiles
Karen & Charles Matthews
Whitney Hyder More
Nancy & Jud Murray
Cabrina & Steven Owsley
Corinna Holt Richter & JB Richter, Jr.
Karen & Karl Rove
Tania & Scott Schwartz
Leslie & Don Ward
Pam & George Willeford
PRINCIPAL SPONSORS
Texas Cultural Trust
Texas Women for the Arts (TWA) is a statewide giving circle and membership program of the Texas Cultural Trust whose mission is to awaken and nurture the artist in every Texas child. Established in 2005, this philanthropic force of influential women from across the state has awarded 428 grants totaling more than $4.7 million impacting over 3.7 million Texas children. The Texas Women for the Arts funds two of the Texas Young Masters grants for the Class of 2026. Texas
Women for the Arts gather at the 2025 Annual Meeting in El Paso.
Thank you sparking creativity and imagination in the children of Texas.
KELLI AND EDDY BLANTON Congratulate the Class of proudly supports the BUTLER TEXAS YOUNG MASTERS
Thank you to Sarah and Ernest Butler for endowing the Butler Texas Young Masters Program! Your extraordinary generosity nurtures emerging artists and ensures a lasting legacy.
With sincere appreciation, Kelley and Pat Frost
And thank the Texas Cultural Trust for their inspiring contributions to Arts Excellence in Education, Advocacy, and Economic Impact in Texas.
©2026 Peter Piper, LLC.
Karen and Karl Rove
OUR MISSION
To be the leading voice for the arts in education, advocacy, and economic impact in Texas, spotlighting the artistic excellence of our state.
For more information about the Texas Cultural Trust, please visit www.txct.org
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Pat Frost, Chair, San Antonio
Dan Jackson, Vice Chair, Austin
Mickey Klein, Immediate Past Chair, Austin
Marvin Blum, Treasurer, Fort Worth
Nancy Murray, Secretary, Longview
Kelli Blanton, Development, Houston
Charles Matthews, Nominations, Austin
Karen Johnson Rove, Advocacy, Austin
Leslie Ward, At-Large, Austin
Lauren Anderson, Houston
Brendon Anthony, Austin
Charles Attal, Austin
John Beckworth, Austin
Ray Benson, Austin
Leslie Blanton, Houston
Adrienne Bosh, Austin
Ernest Butler, Austin
Ito Deutsch, McAllen
Mindy Ellmer, Austin
Gay Gaddis, Austin
Winell Herron, Houston
Tisa Weiss Hibbs, Tyler
Alexis Hunter, Corpus Christi
Renard Johnson, El Paso
Gene Jones, Dallas
Kathleen Keating, Victoria
Linda LaMantia, Laredo
Whitney Hyder More, Fort Worth
Nancy Murray, Longview
Cabrina Owsley, Houston
Marielle Lamy Quaid, Austin
Corinna Holt Richter, San Antonio
Judy Robison, El Paso
Tania Schwartz, El Paso
Pam Willeford, Austin
Trisha Wilson, Dallas
Darrell Windham, Austin
Jocelyn Straus, San Antonio, 1931 — 2022
Chair Emeritus,
Texas Medal of Arts Awards
TXCT TEAM
Heidi Marquez Smith, Chief Executive Officer
Jenny Parry, Director of Programs
Carrie Williams, Director of Donor Relations
Amanda Sullins, Chief of Staff
Shelby Sanders, Executive and Operations Manager
Ashley Caras, Development and Events Assistant
Abby Patrick, Programs Assistant
OUR MISSION
The mission of the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) is to advance our state economically and culturally by investing in a creative Texas. TCA supports a diverse and innovative arts community in Texas, throughout the nation and internationally by providing resources to enhance economic development, arts education, cultural tourism, and artist sustainability initiatives.
For more information about Texas Commission on the Arts, please visit www.arts.texas.gov
STAFF
Gary Gibbs, Ph. D., Executive Director
Dana Douglass Swann, Executive Assistant
Anina Moore, Director of Artist Services & Communications
Laura Wiegand, Director of Programs & Technology
Kenneth Williams, Associate Director of Programs
Michael Darough, Program Administrator
Rron Karahoda, Program Administrator
Matrex Kilgore, Program Administrator
Cristina Saltos, Program Administrator
Jared VosWinkel, Program Assistant
Amber West Rhodes, Director of Finance
Katy Jennings, Finance Assistant
Freddy Martinez, Systems Administrator
