Been there, done that.
Fairhope senior Sydney Gray won the 2025 Musical Theater Songwriting National Challenge for High School Students. She had also won it in 2024, thus becoming the only two-time winner.
She eventually plans to attend the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts in Liverpool, England. She made that selection based on an abundance of opportunities, as she was awarded $300,000 in scholarship offers.
But first, there is her work with the National Alliance of Music Theaters and the National Endowment for the Arts. Over the next few weeks, Sydney will begin working virtually with her mentor and production team to finalize the score and arrangement of her new song. She will go to New York in June, where she will have a week to work in person with her mentor and Broadway studio musicians, producing her 2025 winning song "Fall".
Her song will be performed in full orchestration on June 16 at a concert on Broadway and then published by Concord Music. After the concert, Sydney will receive a cash scholarship from the foundation.
"Fall" is a romantic ballad from Sydney's original musical composition, 'Anavaly.'
Sydney has attended public school in Fairhope since Kindergarten. She is a talented student, graduating with a 4.37 GPA.
Sydney's studies after graduation will focus on writing musicals.
Sydney Gray could be labeled a child prodigy. She began writing literature and fiction when she "could first put sentences together."
She started piano at age 5.
She began musical theater at 6.
She started writing songs at age 10.
She took up trombone in sixth grade, which she still plays in the Fairhope High band.
She wrote her first book in sixth grade.
After COVID ended, she took up the ukulele.
In high school. Sydney was in the choir and band.
She uses her song platform to advocate for teen mental health, the theme of her songs and musical.
To hear Sydney's winning song "Fall" and to learn more about Sydney, the national program, and other contestants, visit:
https://namt.org/2025/05/meet-the-mtsc25-winners/.
Jim' Zig' Zeigler's beat is colorful and positive about Alabama — its people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at [email protected].
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