Overview

The primary goal of the YAACompany is to teach students how to find their voice and tell their story.

Named “BEST YOUTH MUSIC PROGRAM”
Bethesda Magazine’s Best of Bethesda Reader’s Poll 2020

Led by Producing Artistic Director, Rolando Sanz, the YAACompany is a conservatory-quality training program that gives high school singers, actors and dancers the rare opportunity to study, rehearse and perform in large scale works of music theatre in major venues with full symphonic orchestra.

The YAACompany strives to strengthen students' skills in singing, acting and dancing through a fun yet rigorous rehearsal process, as they prepare for major productions of staged symphonic theatrical productions performed in major venues around the Washington, DC area, including Strathmore, The Kennedy Center, Maryland Public Television, and The Clarice. Our primary focus is always on healthy, honest and communicative storytelling, singing, acting and movement, working towards the goal of a professional caliber final production.

Many of our alumni have gone on to study at prestigious universities including Carnegie Mellon, University of Michigan, Penn State, CCM (Cincinatti), NYU, Baldwin Wallace, Northwestern, Rice, Indiana, and UMD. These students and their families often credit Young Artists of America at Strathmore for preparing them for college and their musical careers beyond.

YAA also provides additional Classes, Workshops, and Masterclasses for students to further advance and refine their skills.

Learn more about what our students say about our program here.

Schedule & Location

Young Artists of America at Strathmore produces two mainstage productions per season with its YAACompany, one in the Fall Semester (September-November), and one in the Spring Semester (December-March). Students are welcome to sign up for one semester or the entire season. A discount is offered for those students who enroll for the full school year up front.

The Fall production is a fully-orchestrated, semi-staged production performed at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and at the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center.

The Spring production is a fully-orchestrated, staged theatrical production at the Music Center at Strathmore.

The YAACompany meets 1-2 times a week for rehearsal at both our YAA@HolyCross campus in North Bethesda, MD (Montgomery County) and our YAA@RedBridge campus in Savage, MD (Howard County).

View our rehearsal and performance schedules below:

View larger YAACompany calendar here.

Learn more about our Campuses.

Repertoire

Each season, our students are exposed to a vast repertoire, which can include classic and contemporary musical theatre, and more.

Recent innovative programming has included staged theatrical concerts of large scale musical theatre as well as unique productions that have been devised for and have received their world premiere with Young Artists of America.

Most recently, our world premiere of Young Artists of America: The Songs of Tim Rice filmed for PBS (Maryland Public Television) was nominated for three EMMY® awards and won an EMMY® in 2018.

YAACompany members are also often called upon to participate in exciting professional performances through our partnerships with various venues in the region. Recent and upcoming professional opportunities for students have included performing in:

• Matthew Morrison & Shoshana Bean: Gala Performance (Strathmore)

• World Premiere of Iron & Coal by Jeremy Schonfeld (Beth Morrison Projects/Strathmore)

• Kristin Chenoweth: Coming Home Tour (Strathmore)

• Michael Feinstein: Gala Performance (Strathmore)

• Julie Andrews: Gala Performance (Strathmore)

• Patina Miller: Gala Performance (Strathmore)

Please review our Current and Previous seasons for a full listing of events.

Back to Performance Ensembles