CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — Three Clarion County high school graduates are getting a rare opportunity to pursue their musical dreams beyond high school after they were selected for the exclusive Young Americans Program in California.

All three leave for the west coast next week as they start a two-year program of the performing arts.  The trio includes Rachel Bennett, daughter of Sherry and Lewie Bennett of Keystone; Eric Funk, son of Eric and Barb Funk of Clarion Area; and Sarah Hubauer, daughter of Bonnie and Bill Hubauer of Clarion-Limestone.

Only 141 students were selected for the Fall 2016 class of 51 males and 90 females, including ten from Japan, four from Canada, two from New Zealand, three from Scotland, one from England, and two from Germany.

“The Young Americans is like a performing arts school in California, and they do a two year program where for your first year you go to school for performing arts kind of stuff and there are some other classes, “ said Hubauer.  “You have rehearsals and a couple of performances throughout the year.  At the end of your first year, you would then audition for a tour, a cast that you can be in during the summer, and there are summer camps and or, depending on what you do, you could then do a tour in the fall or spring of your second year. The tours can go anywhere in the world, including Europe and Japan.”

There are different options when you become a Young American.

“One option is just get a performance certificate that basically means you’re eligible to go on tour with them,” said Funk.  “Rachel is doing the certificate option, and Sarah and I are doing a dual-enrollment, and we receive an associate degree from North Central Michigan College and a certificate from Young Americans.”

The associate degree includes a mixture of online classes and teachers who also work at Young American headquarters.  Young Americans College of the Performing Arts does not have an official college accreditation, but is considering such a step.

Although first year students do not have an opportunity to tour, they are prepared for what comes next and all students must audition for each tour.

“About 40 people go out on any particular tour, and the numbers could change based on the tour,” said Funk. “The tours are always different.  A tour is never the same, depending on who wants to host the Young Americans on tour.  Right now, there are two casts of tours in Japan, and they’ll be there until August.  Numbers in a cast depend on how big of an audience they have to serve with their workshops.”

“They pay for most of our travel, depending on where we tour.  Since the Young Americans are non-profit, there is some cost for us. The Japan tour is free for travel, but there are some where we have to pay to go on the tour.  We do stay with families on tour, and they feed you and give you everything you need.”

Looking forward to their time with Young Americans, all three have an idea of what they would like to get out of their program. Students can sometimes stay with the Young Americans until they are 26.

Rachel is a 2014 graduate of Keystone and was accepted into the program then, but deferred for two years, so she could work at Sharp Shopper in Knox and earn some money to help finance her trip and program.

“I want to do anything with music,” said Rachel. “This is kind of a way for me to experience all of the sides of music because you can do the sound or the lighting or the recording, or you can do performing, or even teaching kids.  It just gets you out there in a different way and forces you to be ‘on’ all the time when you are out on tour instead of getting down time.  I’d love to perform, but I don’t know how likely that is.”

Sarah has an idea of what she wants to do after the program.

“When I’m done with Young Americans, and I only plan on doing the initial two years — unless I’m somehow offered a job out of Young Americans for performing or something like that. I am planning on going back to school if I can afford it to get a music business or music industry degree.  That way I can get a performance aspect, but more focused on instruments because they don’t do instruments as much at Young Americans.  They focus on singing, acting, dancing.  I want to focus on free lance and write my own songs and a variety of performances.”

Eric eventually sees himself teaching elementary music.

“I would like to think I would be with the Young Americans until I’m 26, but the chances of doing that feel a little tricky when it comes down to finances and when I actually have to survive, so I need a job,” said Eric.  “I would really like to go back to school after the young Americans and get my music education degree.  Elementary music is what I really want to do.”

High school students audition for the Young Americans at workshops put on by the groups when they visit various communities.

Young Americans College of the Performing Arts describes its formal mission as providing members with performance-based education emphasizing artistry, leadership, communication, and collaboration. The associate of arts and certificate programs of study offered provide developing artist with skills, knowledge, and experiences that will be foundational for their future as performers, teachers, and leaders.