About Young Ambassadors
About the Young Ambassadors
A note from the director
The world-traveled Young Ambassadors are celebrating their 43rd season this fall. It has been my pleasure to direct this performance company for 34 years. All of us are looking forward to an exciting year of opportunities as we audition for another outstanding company.
First entering the international spotlight in Osaka, Japan at Expo '70, the Young Ambassadors have literally circled the globe with live and televised appearences in 66 countries. Recent tours in Southeast Asia and Australia were hailed enormously successful by arts critics and presenters.
Live and televised performances in major concert halls and impromptu appearances in hospitals, orphanages, town squares, and government palaces are scheduled each year. We look forward to meeting you in person. Good luck in the auditions!
—Randy Boothe
Artistic Director, Young Ambassadors
What It Means to Be a Young Ambassador
Music, dance, and theatre have always been the inspiration for BYU’s Young Ambassadors. During their recent Southern States tour the group inspired others with their evening performances at civic centers, university performance halls, and high schools. In addition to the excitement of their newest show, Harmony: The Music of Life, lasting memories from the tour were formed during the quieter moments of outreach and service.
During their three and a half weeks on tour, the Young Ambassadors participated in 20 service projects that included children’s hospital visits, nonprofit performances, high school workshops, and volunteering at local food banks. These opportunities to give back to the communities they visited helped the Young Ambassadors live up to their name.
As a performer and vice president of the Young Ambassadors, Alexis Flake understands the importance of being a member of this company. “Through Young Ambassadors I can be an example of BYU,” said Flake. “It fills my life with people, service, performing, and traveling to help me stay well-rounded as a college student. Being a Young Ambassador is about more than just putting on a good show. We don’t just perform like any other group; we find, help, and serve people.”
During their first day on tour, the Young Ambassadors held an outreach performance that impacted everyone who participated. At the Morehead School for the Blind in Raleigh, North Carolina, the Young Ambassadors sang, acted, and danced for an audience that couldn’t see the costumes or the choreography. “People asked us why we even performed when we could have just stood on stage and sang to them,” said Flake. “Even though they couldn’t see us, we knew that they could feel our energy.”
Brad Robins, president of Young Ambassadors, was also moved by the experience with the students. “During our performance we got off the stage so we could sing face-to-face with the children,” said Robins. “They would reach out their hands to us and we would hold them as we sang. They couldn’t see us, but they were obviously touched by the feelings we brought into the room.”
The Young Ambassadors used their talents to bring smiles to the faces of the sick and lonely. Visits to St. Jude Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee; Children’s Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama; Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in Georgia; and Shands Children’s Hospital in Gainesville, Florida, helped brighten the days of both the young patients and their parents. Rehab patients in Knoxville, Tennessee, and residents in an assisted living center in Tampa, Florida, were also able to sing and interact with the performers.
The Young Ambassadors also worked with several high schools and middle schools to host performance workshops. By sharing their knowledge and excitement for the performing arts, the Young Ambassadors encouraged students to reach their full potential by pursuing their interests and dreams.
More than a performing group, the Young Ambassadors are strong representatives of the values of Brigham Young University. Through outreach and service, the performers share their love of musical theatre as they increase their love for those they visit.
Click here to see the current cast of the Young Ambassadors.
News
- Young Ambassadors Deseret News Article.
- Young Ambassadors LDS Church News Article.
Watch Young Ambassadors in the news and other video content.
"It's Just Life" from Harmony: The Music of Life
Auditioning
Live Auditions
Live Auditions will be held April 2–6, 2012, in room 2206 of the Richards Building on the BYU campus. Please call (801) 422-2563 after March 1, 2012 to set up your personal audition appointment.
All applicants should come ready to sing a ballad and an up-tempo selection. Each song should be about 16 bars in length. An accompanist will be provided.
Please have your sheet music cut to the proper length and clearly marked.
After your vocal audition, you will be taught several dance sequences from the Young Ambassador show.
Bring a headshot and performance résumé to the audition. Plan to arrive 10 minutes early to complete an audition information card.
Videotaped Auditions
For those who cannot attend the live preliminary audition, you may send a DVD of your performance. We would like to receive this by April 1, so prepare and mail it early. Based on your taped audition, you may be asked to attend final call backs. For more information, please see the FAQ.
Send your audition DVD, headshot, and résumé to:
Young Ambassadors Auditions
1128 Richards Building
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT 84602-2018
Final Callbacks
Final Callbacks will be held the afternoon and evening of Friday, April 6. Everyone invited to final callbacks should be prepared to perform 32 bars of your best musical theater selection. You will be asked to sight-sing, sing in quartets, as well as learn additional movement combinations.
A list of those selected for the 2012–2013 company will be posted within one week of the final callbacks.
Show Band Auditions
The Young Ambassadors perform with a 10-piece show band comprised of 2 keyboards, drums, electric bass, guitar, 2 trumpets, trombone, and woodwind specialist. Our musicians must read printed notes as well as chord symbols; drummers must read rhythm charts accurately. The band players are chosen for their musical skills and also their desire to fit in with the overall values of the Young Ambassador organization, which include representing the University and the Church on a high, service-oriented level.
Auditions are normally held in conjunction with performer auditions and continue on an appointment basis until all openings are filled. For more information or appointments, call Eric Hansen at (801) 422-4135.
Tech Crew Auditions
Interviews for the technical support staff are held in August of each year. Positions include sound engineers, master electrician, stage hands, stage manager, wardrobe manager, prop master, and follow-spot operators.
Appointments may be made with John Shurtleff, Technical Director, by contacting the RB Music Office at (801) 422-2563 after July 1, 2012. Applications for technical staff are available in the RB Music Office, 1128 RB.
Directors
Randy Boothe
Randy Boothe serves as associate dean in the College of Fine Arts and Communications and executive producer for performing arts at BYU. For 34 years he has served as artistic director of the world-renowned Young Ambassadors, touring to more than 44 countries.
Randy has also directed the Lamanite Generation, Curtaintime USA, and Sounds of Freedom. He has served as a director and consultant for the Disney’s Epcot Center and the Magic Kingdom. During the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Randy directed Light of the World with a cast of 1,500 singers, dancers, and musicians. In 1997 he directed the sesquicentennial celebration, Faith in Every Footstep, featuring a cast of 6,000 performers.
Randy has also directed for Jackson Hole Playhouse, Young Ambassadors Singing Entertainer Workshop, and 14 main stage productions at BYU. He has also produced Christmas and summer shows for Promised Valley Playhouse in Salt Lake City.
Eric Hansen
Eric joined the Young Ambassadors directors’ team in fall 2011. Dr. Hansen’s journey with the Young Ambassadors started thirty years ago as a freshman bass player, who spent the summer of 1982, after his first year of college, performing at the World’s Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee. The entire Young Ambassador family welcome him back home in his first season as Young Ambassadors’ associate director and show band conductor.
His professional ensemble experience includes principal bass with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, Musik Barock Ensemble, Talbot Chamber Orchestra, Great Music West Festival Orchestra, and National Chamber Orchestra in Washington, D.C.
In August 2004 Eric was invited to perform at the World Bass Festival in Warsaw, Poland. In addition to teaching, performs part-time with the Utah Symphony, Ballet West, and film/television recordings at LA East Studios.
Janielle Christensen
Janielle became involved in professional theatre and music at an early age, co-hosting a daily television show at 12 and playing with the Musicians Union at 14. As artistic director of Living Legends, she has brought uplifting family entertainment to millions through live and televised productions.
Her responsibilities at BYU also include teaching as a member of the music dance theatre faculty and serving as artistic director for the annual Homecoming Spectacular. She has received the College of Fine Arts and Communications’ highest administrative award for excellence and was recently a recipient of the university’s Brigham Award for her contributions to BYU community and others throughout the world.
She has served as chair of the board of advisors and as producer/director for the Promised Valley Playhouse in Salt Lake City. She was the producer of Faith in Every Footstep, the Church's sesquicentennial spectacular in 1997 and associate director for Light of the World at the Conference Center in 2002.
John Shurtleff
As technical director for Young Ambassadors and Living Legends for more than 25 years, John Shurtleff has traveled the world training some of the finest professionals in technical theatre anywhere. His students are working in New York, with national touring companies, and in theatres across the nation.
John has coordinated the transport of equipment, scenery, costumes, and props, interfacing with and international government agencies to assure technical support for each touring company. He is also responsible for the training of students who fill all technical positions, including stage management, sound, lighting, rigging, props, and costumes.
In 1997 John was appointed technical director for the sesquicentennial production, Faith in Every Footstep. He also served as one of the technical directors for Light of the World in the Conference Center during the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
