By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
Jayleena Hill is “more than honored” to be chosen for an elite masterclass program organized by Fort Wayne native and Broadway star Heather Headley.
The Bellmont High School junior was one of 31 Fort Wayne-area students selected from over 100 applicants for the class to be taught by Tony Award recipient Headley.
The students, freshmen through seniors, represent 16 schools.
Jayleena admires Headley and looks up to her for inspiration. “I hope to be a sponge and soak everything thing up,” she told WZBD.com.
Headley, a Northrop High School grad, has won a Grammy and is a Netflix star.
“I’m excited to meet and work with these talented young people and hopefully help guide them to being our next emerging artists,” Headley said in a statement.
The three-day masterclass is more than a lesson in technique, according to Angie Fincannon, CEO and executive director of Pearl Arts Inc. in Fort Wayne.
“It’s a window into excellence, a bridge between aspiration and achievement,” she told participants and their parents attending the announcement.
“For these students, it’s a chance to learn from someone who has walked the very path that they dream of, and for our community, it’s a reminder that greatness can be shared.”
The masterclass will be held at the Pearl Arts Center in Fort Wayne on November 7 through 9.
“When it comes to representation, especially for African-American students, she (Headley) is who I look up to,” Hill told Ashley Sloboda of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. “Being in a room with someone that has that much experience – especially on Broadway and in the theater district – gives me the opportunity to kind of be the sponge and soak it all up and really retain all the information that she’s going to give us.”
Jayleena, the daughter of Jenny and Dave Hill of Decatur, is a member of the Voices of Unity Choir in Fort Wayne and has been performing in Fort Wayne for several years. She received an Anthony Award nomination at the age of 15.
Her work includes “The Color Purple” (young Nettie/Olivia) and “Legally Blonde” (Lelani/featured dancer).
She’s performed in the Indiana Musical Theater Foundation’s “Aretha: the Queen of Soul Tribute”, being the youngest performer.
Recently Jayleena was in “Purlie” presented by Genesis Outreach in a regional theatre.
Last May she appeared in her second Fort Wayne Civic Theater show as Hannah in “Freaky Friday,” held at the Embassy.
Hill, who attends Pearl Arts Innovation Institute in Fort Wayne after her classes at Bellmont, is a former member of the BHS Brave Generation show choir and performed in the school’s “Seussical the Musical.”
He mother, Jenny, gives ample credit to June McCullough of Monroe, Jayleena’s first voice coach, and Marshall White, founder and director of the Voices of Unity Youth Choir in Fort Wayne, for much of her daughter’s development.
“They really helped Jayleena get started and helped her find her love of music, especially singing,” she said.
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