Lincoln Park senior named Pittsburgh CLO scholarship winner

A Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School senior has received the Pittsburgh CLO Guild’s 2018 Constance T. Rockwell Scholarship for Musical Theater.

Jordyn Walker, a musical theater major, was awarded a $4,000 scholarship, half of which will be paid in the fall of 2018 and half in the spring of 2019.

The award is based on talent and need, as well as Walker’s participation in the question and answer segment of the scholarship audition, according to Guild Chairwoman Patti Matty Blenko. She said a total of 19 students auditioned, 10 of whom were awarded $4,000 Constance T. Rockwell scholarships, and two $5,000 scholarships on behalf of the Charity Randall Foundation.

“It is our pleasure to be able to award Jordyn a Pittsburgh CLO Guild Constance T. Rockwell scholarship,” Blenko said.

Walker of Cranberry Township, Butler County, plans to attend the University of Cincinnati’s Conservatory of Music for a BFA in musical theatre. After graduation, she plans to move to New York to pursue theater professionally.

“I’m so grateful for the scholarship because it has been very stressful trying to figure out how to pay for college. I’ve received a $6,000 talent scholarship from the conservatory at Cincinnati as well, but I’ll still be paying around $30,000 a year,” she said.

The scholarships are named for the late Constance Rockwell, who founded the Pittsburgh CLO Guild in 1953 and played a leadership role in its theater arts community for more than 60 years. Scholarships are awarded annually to deserving local high school seniors, in keeping with Mrs. Rockwell’s desire to recognize, encourage and support talented high school students who want to pursue an education and a career in the performing arts.

Walker has performed at Carnegie Hall and 54 Below both in New York City. She played the role of Sandra Bloom in Lincoln Park’s production of “Big Fish,” Carlotta in “Phantom of the Opera,” and will play Emma Goldman in the upcoming production of “Ragtime.”

Walker was the top performer of 10 competitors chosen to sing the National Anthem on Sept. 24, 2017, prior to a nationally televised Pittsburgh Penguins preseason NHL game versus the St. Louis Blues. She also received an honorable mention from the 2018 National YoungArts Foundation for her outstanding artistic achievements.