El Dorado High School Celebrates 2026 OC Artist of the Year Nominees

Congratulations to our outstanding El Dorado High School students who have been named 2026 Orange County Artist of the Year nominees. This prestigious honor recognizes some of the county’s most exceptional junior and senior artists across multiple disciplines.

We are proud to celebrate the following 44 El Dorado nominees:

Film & TV
Julian Ivan Bautista
Joyce Chang
Melody Choi
Mel Medina
Fernando Nuñez Coindreau
Sophia Smith
Barron Syams
Autumn Treister
Claire Ng

Fine Arts
Presley J. Asuncion
Suah Cha
Augustyna Hartman
Erik Lenz
Natalie Ortiz
Jaslene Eve Ortiz-Guillen
Samantha Pak
Rachael Mihyun Park
Karson Yool Suh

Instrumental Music
Gracie Fox
Tennessee Freese
Quentin Luciano Gomez
Jack Lewis

Media Arts
Amy Cornelius
Nathaniel DeBree
Nadeen Jaridly
Cade Ladewig
Jocelyn Lee
Sarah Trinh

Theater
Melody Choi
Kaitlyn De Tevis
Avery Gaiennie-Lovell
Olivia Girgis
Makaela Moore
Tessa Michelle Moore
Evan Morikawa
Fernando Nuñez Coindreau

Vocal Music
Alexis Valencia Catalano
Avery Gaiennie-Lovell
Kaitlyn Gallegos
Jenevieve Faith Goyer
Augustyna Hartman
Anai Juan-Enriquez
Avalina Thomas
Meilani Aiana Toran

This year, 888 students from 88 Orange County schools, arts organizations, and private instructors were nominated. Being recognized as an OC Artist of the Year nominee is an incredible achievement and places these students among the county’s top young artists.

We are so proud of these talented Golden Hawks for their creativity, dedication, and artistic excellence. Congratulations to all of our nominees on this well-deserved recognition.

Semifinalists will be announced on April 19, and the Artist of the Year celebration will take place on Wednesday, May 13 at 5:30 p.m. in the Samueli Theater at Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

Congratulations, Golden Hawks!

The OC Register published their nominees for the 2026 OC Artist of the Year awards today.  The Register article has much more detail than the OC Culture Newsletter, but is behind a paywall: LINK to OC Culture. LINK to OC Register Article