THE 8TH ANNUAL JUNIOR ATC

A free singing competition for high school students.

Cash prizes. Tailored coaching and feedback. Perform at a professional LiveNation venue!

What is the Junior ATC?

Every fall, we invite high school students (and sometimes 8th graders!) who love to sing to take part in the Junior ATC. It's a free singing competition open to students in Savannah, Georgia and the surrounding region, and it's one of the core things we do at the ATC.

The Junior ATC teaches confidence through positive and constructive written feedback, private coaching sessions, and artistic freedom in programming. Each student will practice crafting their own musical program of three contrasting musical selections, practice auditioning, and practice not only taking musical and dramatic feedback, but implementing it in real time. Through this singing initiative, students experience rapid growth as solo performers and gain deeper self-awareness and greater self-confidence.

$2750 in Cash Prizes

1st Place: $1000 | 2nd place: $750 | 3rd place $500

Two Runners up: $250 each

Plus, invitations to perform at our professional events, alongside Broadway stars and at our professional competition

No application fee. No Coaching Fee. Completely Free!

Who can apply?

Any high school student in the region who loves to sing can apply. If you'll be a freshman in the fall, or if you're a senior in the fall, you can still apply for the Junior ATC. In past years, students from Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, and Alabama have applied and taken part in the process.

No audition fee. No voice teacher required. No prior competition experience necessary.

How does it work?

Building your program

You'll create a program of three songs, each from a different genre of classic American music. No genre may be repeated. Here are the genres we recognize:

• Art Song

• Folk

• Great American Songbook

• Mid-Century Pop (1950–1980) — Motown, Disco, Funk, Rock, Rockabilly, Singer-Songwriter, and all the other styles from this era are all ok!

• Musical Theatre

• Songs of Johnny Mercer (lyrics or music — doesn't have to be both)

• Spirituals

The American Music Rule

All composers (not lyricists, just composers) represented by your song choices need to hold US citizenship. Music does not need to be in English for all of your selections, so long as the songwriter or composer is a citizen of the United States.

Many songs we think are written by American composers, like songs from Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, and many Disney songs, actually aren't. Songs written by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sir Elton John, Joni Mitchell, David Foster, and Leonard Cohen are not allowed. (Although we love them, too!) When in doubt, look up the composer before you commit to a song.

What to Upload

Your application asks for the sheet music for all three songs, each uploaded as one multi-page PDF in the correct key for your audition. That's it. No audition video is required unless you can't attend in person.

Hear for yourself!

2025 Junior ATC Winner, Hanna Richmond sings Moon River, accompanied by Charles Ancheta

Take a listen to 2020 Junior ATC Winner, Colleen Allard-Smith discuss her time in the Junior ATC with local Savannah radio station, WRUU’s Dave Lake: Colleen Allard-Smith Interview

2019 Junior ATC 1st place Singer, Quiana Morris shares her experience in the Junior ATC.

For Parents and Voice Teachers

If your child or your student is thinking about applying, here's what you should know:

The whole experience is free. No application fee, no coaching fee, no fee to perform. We provide a professional pianist at every stage of the process, at no cost to students or families.
The Junior ATC teaches confidence through positive and constructive written feedback, private coaching sessions, and artistic freedom in programming. Every student who auditions gets detailed written feedback from our panel. Students who advance get five private coaching sessions across the fall with professional musicians who are out there doing this for a living. That kind of one-on-one work usually costs hundreds of dollars, and we offer it for free.
The time commitment: one Saturday audition in September, five Saturday coaching sessions (11:30am–4pm) spread across October, November, and December, and the Finals Concert on January 10, 2027. There are no makeups for coaching sessions, so families should check those dates before applying.
Students don't need to be taking voice lessons or enrolled in a performing arts program to apply. Plenty of our singers have walked in with no formal training and walked out with something they didn't have before.

The Junior ATC is one part of a larger education mission. Through performances in our community and our schools, we're engaging tomorrow's educators, performers, and music lovers in the region. We've taught kids to improvise in assemblies, worked on audition technique in masterclasses, and we always take time to share our favorite American songwriters, including Savannah's own Johnny Mercer. Annually, we reach approximately 500 students.

To truly preserve our history of American song, we have to plant seeds of appreciation in our American youth and continue to nurture their love of American music. That means fostering an environment that supports camaraderie and community amongst peers, and a focus on progress, not perfection.

Questions? You can reach out directly at director@atcsavannah.org. — Mikki Sodergren, Executive & Artistic Director

Where are they now?

Coming soon!

FAQ

Art Song, Folk, Great American Songbook, Musical Theatre, Mid-Century Pop (1950–1980 — Motown, Disco, Funk, Rock, Rockabilly, Singer-Songwriter, and all the other styles from this time period are all ok!), Songs of Johnny Mercer (lyrics or music — doesn't have to be both), and Spirituals.
For our purposes, American music is defined as being written by a composer who holds United States citizenship. If the lyricist is a different person and they don't hold US citizenship, that's ok!
Any high school student in the region who loves to sing. If you'll be a freshman in the fall, or if you're a senior, you can still apply. In past years, students from Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, and Alabama have applied and taken part. No voice teacher or performing arts enrollment required.
Many songs we think are written by American composers, like Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, and many Disney songs. Songs written by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sir Elton John, Joni Mitchell, David Foster, and Leonard Cohen are not allowed. (Although we love them, too!) description
No. This event is free for all students who wish to take part. No application fee, no coaching fee, no performance fee. We provide a pianist at every stage at no charge.
Three song titles with composers and genres, plus the sheet music for each song as a multi-page PDF in the key you'll sing in. You'll also upload a headshot or school photo. No audition video is needed unless you can't attend in person.
Yes! We'll accept video auditions if you live too far away or can't make the audition date. In-person is preferred, but we don't want distance to stop you from applying. You do need to be there in person for the Finals Concert, though.
You'll start with one song of your choice from your program of three. The panelists may then ask to hear another full selection, both other selections, parts of the remaining songs, or they may decide they've heard what they need from the initial song. A pianist is provided. Five singers will advance to the Finals, with up to two as alternates.
Five Saturdays spread across October, November, and December, 11:30am–4pm each. You'll work one-on-one with professional musicians. There are no makeups, so check the dates before you apply!
We have cash awards for all five finalists: $1,000, $750, $500, and two prizes of $250 for the runners-up. We also offer performance opportunities at our professional ATC events throughout the season.