Interlochen's Rising Stars

Nine academy students who shine

Interlochen’s evolution from a summer music camp to a year-round institution for the arts has brought youngsters from around the world to the rural boarding school. Academy students study a variety of academic subjects, just like students at any other school. But they also spend time in class and outside it preparing for a career in the arts. Below, the Express profiles nine outstanding students representing the majors offered at the school. 

Creative Writing

Saba Jana-Worku is a senior creative writing major from Richmond, Virginia. At the academy, she focuses primarily on screenwriting and narrative fiction, but has dabbled in creative nonfiction. But that interest isn’t what initially drew her there. “I was first introduced to Interlochen by my orchestra teacher. He recommended the arts camp,” she says, and she attended camp to study upright bass.

Fast-forward, and Jana-Worku was studying online as her mom is immunocompromised. When it came to returning to in-person learning, she was reluctant to attend school in Richmond. “I remembered Interlochen. My mom wanted me to go to the academy before COVID, and when I reintroduced the idea, both my parents were supportive.” 

She no longer was playing acoustic bass, but the thought of studying creative writing intrigued her.  

“After Interlochen, I want to go to college for writing for film and television,” she says, with schools like Chapman University and University of Southern California in Los Angeles and Emerson College in Boston among her preferences. “My biggest dream is to write and direct my own films. Coming from a strong background in fiction, I hope to bring some of the skills I’ve honed, especially those learned at the academy, to my future film projects.”

Interdisciplinary Arts

While Jana-Worku switched from music to writing, Juniper Blythe wants to have it all. Or at least study it all. The Interdisciplinary Arts major is a senior who didn’t have to look hard to find Interlochen. “I came here because my mom got a job at Interlochen,” Blythe says. But it wasn’t necessarily that simple. 

A Hoosier until moving to the area, Blythe attended public school for 8th grade. “My mom had to push” them to attend Interlochen. “What sold me was they had … a really big library.”  

Not to mention the major enables Blythe to study several arts subjects, including dance, musical theater, visual arts, and more. While Blythe enjoys that perk—saying interdisciplinary students can pick and choose classes from the variety of classes Interlochen offers—the students in those individual majors get priority.  

Blythe has been accepted to Loyola University, but also is looking at Wayne State, Michigan State, and Michigan as other possibilities. They intend to study pre-law while minoring in art. “I love art, but I’ve always had a dream of becoming a lawyer,” Blythe says. 

In the spring showcase, Blythe will be part of a dance performance, and the senior show the week of graduation will include installations or exhibits of their work.

Dance

Rowan Barber is a junior dance major. “I’m a singer and dancer. I’ve always been more rooted in ballet and musical theatre the past six or seven years,” he says. “I came to Interlochen in 2022 for the one-week ballet program and six-week musical theatre program. I saw how amazing the dance training was and ended up coming here for dance,” he says.

“I come from a small town in Pennsylvania. It’s not dance- and arts-focused. I learned so much from everyone, more than I would have. It was the best choice.”

But not an easy one. “As much as I wanted to go to Interlochen, I didn’t want to leave my friends,” Barber says. He now has four to five hours of ballet every day and four shows per year, two multi-disciplinary shows, and The Nutcracker in December. He’ll be performing in Swan Lake in February. “It’s going to be beautiful. Everyone else is just so talented.” 

After high school Barber is hoping to apply to a musical theater college. “Not a conservatory. I want to get academics and a degree.” Among those he’s considering are Carnegie Mellon, USC, University of Michigan, and NYU.  “After college I hope to pursue professional opportunities,” he says.  

Music: Singer-Songwriter

Sarah Baumgarten is a senior singer-songwriter major from Arlington, Virginia. Perhaps no surprise she’s ended up a musician, with a father who plays flute and a mother who’s a cellist. “I started writing songs in elementary school, fell in love with it, and never stopped,” she says.  

Baumgarten attended Interlochen Arts Camp in the summers of 2023 and 2024, but had reservations about leaving home for her senior year of high school. “I didn’t think I wanted to go to academy. On the drive home I suddenly realized I needed to go to academy.” She filled out the application on the way back to Virginia. “It was hard for both my parents. I was leaving [home] a year early.”

She began playing guitar in 6th grade, preceded by ukulele, then followed by piano, bass, and French horn. “I write differently on different instruments,” she says. She is apt to record song snippets on her phone’s voice memo, then match riffs or melodies to lyrics she’s saved. 

Baumgarten will be performing as part of the Interlochen In Town Singer-Songwriter Showcase Feb. 6. She’ll also be releasing an album, Sunspit, this spring. Beyond that? 

“I plan to study both chemistry and music in a double major, but I have yet to hear back from any colleges. I’ve applied to many places with good academics and music, such as Oberlin, Yale, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Bard, and Harvard/New England Conservatory’s dual degree program.”

Visual Arts

When senior visual arts major Maya Tzonev was looking for summer arts opportunities, “I googled and Interlochen came up. My parents encouraged me to apply for the camp. I was so nervous. When I got in, I was ecstatic. I loved it.”

While at the camp, Tzonev was encouraged to look into the academy. Initially reluctant, “When I got in, of course I’m going to go.” Now in her third year, she has been accepted to the Art Institute of Chicago while applying to other schools in Boston, Baltimore, and elsewhere. 

For someone from a small town in Ohio who has spent the last three years in a rural self-contained school, what will it be like moving to a big city? “It’s a big shift to the city. I’m ready for that,” Tzonev says confidently. 

Tzonev had works displayed in the National Youngarts Week Exhibition in Miami, Florida, in January. Local exhibits include Higher Art Gallery, the 2025 Northwest Michigan Regional Juried Exhibition at the Dennos Museum (Jan. 24-May 25), and the 2025 student thesis exhibitions at Interlochen this spring.

Tzonev believes her studies can land her a place teaching, designing, even working in the corporate world. “I kind of view college as an avenue for figuring that out. Visual art is my passion. I want that to be in my life.” 

Musical Theatre

Born in New York City, musical theatre senior Sabina Camblor-Castrodad moved to the Dominican Republic with her musical family while a youngster. An avid theater-goer, she began singing in theatre when she was just nine years old. “By 11, I was hooked,” she says. “I knew this was for me.” 

After the pandemic, the theater companies in the Dominican Republic dissolved, so she turned back stateside, attending Interlochen Arts Camp in 2021. “It was an incredible experience,” she says, and she returned the following summer, then enrolled in the academy. “I knew I had to stay. It took a year to convince my parents.”

She’s been part of numerous performances at Interlochen. “Cats was a crazy, dance-heavy show,” she says, which helped her build her confidence in her dancing. Her favorite was Into the Woods, which allowed her to tap into her Cuban and Puerto Rican ancestry. “It was a whirlwind. It was set in ’80s New York, including parts of Puerto Rican culture. It was a validating experience.” 

In mid-April she’ll be in Volpone at the Phoenix Theatre. She’s now auditioning for college, including Tisch Drama at NYU, though she says, “I’m dreaming of the UK.” 

Film & New Media: Animation

Oliver Hale from San Francisco is a senior studying animation. He enrolled in the academy after hearing about it from his twin brother Ivy, who attended Interlochen for two years before Oliver jumped in for the second half of his junior year. 

“Oh my god, it was amazing,” he says, of both the school and the community of students and staff. “You all live on campus, all practicing. You hear singing, piano—being in a creative space, at my first art class, I was ready to go, like [I’d had] a couple shots of coffee.” 

Hale says working in animation at Interlochen allows him to collaborate with students from across the world. “My senior film I’ll be working with music majors, live action film people, voice actors. My music producer is from Poland. It’s such a great, diverse population.”

Following graduation, he intends to attend college and continue studying animation and apply his skills, whether it’s in creating video games or anywhere it takes him. 

“In five or six years, hopefully I’ll have graduated and be in the industry, be a grunt.” He dreams of seeing his name on the end credits, whatever the role. “Be a part of something, like at Interlochen.” 

Film & New Media: Filmmaking

Emma Niu is a sophomore studying film and new media. She says she was always interested in the arts, from dance and music to visual art. The throughline was storytelling, which led her to filmmaking. “Interlochen had a good film [program] as well as rigorous academics. I was adding something new without losing anything,” she says. 

She is immersed in all aspects of filmmaking, including editing, placing and operating cameras and microphones, directing—all those things that go on behind the camera. Why behind the scenes rather than acting? 

“It’s not that I don’t want to be in front, but … writing, directing, editing is more fascinating,” she says. “That is the story part.”  

She says being in the program for four years will enable her to experience both doing a senior thesis and a capstone film. “It’s independent. I get to have fun,” she says. 

Following her time at Interlochen she hopes to attend film school before moving into the industry. “I want to go to film school at a university, I hope in California or New York. I want to direct films that resonate with people all over the world.  As a Chinese American, I want to bridge those gaps.” She will be represented at a winter film screening in February.  

Theatre: Design & Production

Lucy Beckett-Ball enrolled as an interdisciplinary arts major at Interlochen. That didn’t last long. “In the first week I was drawn to design and production,” she says. “I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.” 

Beckett-Ball wanted something different from what she’d grown up with. “I was looking for a change for high school,” she says. “I was looking at a few different boarding schools. Interlochen was focused on the arts.” That was enough for her. 

While Niu prefers to work behind the scenes, Beckett-Ball wants to make the scenes the stars shine on. Her area of study encompasses everything from using technology and lighting to creating backdrops, costumes, and makeup. “I was never someone who enjoyed being in front. I want to continue as a stage manager to support the artists, the actors and directors, from behind the scenes.” 

After coming to Interlochen as a sophomore two years ago, Beckett-Ball is now looking to continue her studies in college. Currently she’s considering Carnegie Mellon, DePaul, and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. “Interlochen set me up to go. I wasn’t sure pre-Interlochen.” Before that, she will serve as stage manager of Volpone at the Phoenix Theatre in April.

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