Calling on all high schoolers who have artistic and performance talents from throughout Dane County …. Omega Psi Phi’s Talent Hunt is offering you the chance to win big monetary prizes in an upcoming competition at Madison East High School.
“The Talent Hunt is one of the many programs we do at Omega Psi Phi fraternity. It’s one of the things that we hope will have a positive impact on our community,” Ebrahim Amara II, a member of the Gamma Gamma Gamma chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and part of the Talent Hunt Committee, tells Madison365. “The idea for the Talent Hunt is that we give exposure and encouragement and a chance for students to have their own talent showcase. We will have judges for a variety of performing arts including vocal music, dance, visual arts, poetry, and photography. So we’ve got all these avenues that we give students a chance to perform in.“
The Talent Hunt is an internationally mandated program of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. The first Talent Hunt was held on April 19, 1946, in Charlotte, North Carolina. The necessity for Talent Hunt was born out of the reality that there were limited opportunities afforded to some populations in the country for youth to give full expression to their artistic and creative abilities, according to Omega Psi Phi’s website.
The Gamma Gamma Gamma and Epsilon Theta chapters of the Omega Psi Phi fraternities will be hosting this upcoming Talent Hunt at Madison East High School on Saturday, April 5. The Epsilon Theta Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. was chartered on September 15, 1969, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison while the Gamma Gamma Gamma Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. is a graduate chapter chartered in Madison serving the community since 1984.
“This year, we’re really hoping to get a lot of performers participating,” Amara says. “We have a few performing acts coming this year, too. I believe we have a dance group from UW-Whitewater coming and a church choir, as well. We have a few different community acts so that it won’t just be high school students performing and being nervous. They’ll also get a chance to see community-based organizations and community-based groups perform. It will give the students something to look forward to on top of the Talent Hunt.”
The first-place winner at The Talent Hunt will get a $500 prize, the second-place winner will receive $300 and the third-place winner will get $100. There will also be consolation prizes for those in attendance.
The Talent Hunt will have three judges who are not affiliated with the fraternity who will judge the talent and use a scoring system to determine the winners.
“We have judges from different backgrounds, one is from dance, another is a vocalist and then we will also have a violinist,” Amara says. “They are from different areas of performing arts, so they have different ideas of art. We’re trying to keep it as objective as possible. We want to give everyone a fair shot and create that encouraging environment for students to really perform at their best.”
The Omega Psi Phi Talent Hunt will provide exposure, encouragement, and financial assistance to talented high school students in grades 9-12.
“We are really trying to get the word out for this Talent Hunt. We’ve contacted Madison Metropolitan School District, Verona School District, Sun Prairie and Oregon school districts,” Amara says. “So the outreach has been a lot different and more targeted this year than in the past.”
High schoolers have until Friday, March 21, to sign up for The Talent Hunt. Contestants interested in participating can click here for more information.
“We’re really trying to give this opportunity to students so that they can come out and be in that space and perform, display their talent, and get a chance to really win those cash prizes,” Amara says. “We’ve definitely been working hard to get the word out for this Talent Hunt. I think this year will be the year to set the bar for this event.”
