Matias Castro, a 2024 graduate of Golden Valley High School, has been named a 2025 YoungArts winner with distinction in jazz alto saxophone, the highest honor of the organization, according to a news release.  A three-time participant in the William S. Hart Union High School District Honor Band and current student at the University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music, Castro has been recognized for the caliber of his artistic achievement and joins more than 800 of the most accomplished young visual, literary, and performing artists from throughout the country, the release states.  YoungArts award winners are selected through a highly competitive application, which is reviewed by panels of discipline-specific artists in a rigorous adjudication process. YoungArts award winners in 2025 join a community of artists who are offered creative and professional development support throughout their careers.   A complete list of the 2025 winners is available online at youngarts.org/winners.  “We’re thrilled to award our largest-ever cohort of artists, selected from a record-breaking number of applications this year,” YoungArts President and CEO Clive Chang said in the release. “We hope this recognition provides these young people with the encouragement to keep pursuing their artistry, and the assurance that YoungArts will be there as a source of support and community for the rest of their lives.”  As a winner with distinction, Castro will participate in National YoungArts Week, held Jan. 5-12, in Miami. During the week, participants have opportunities to share their own work, which is further evaluated for cash awards of up to $10,000; experience interdisciplinary classes and workshops; and receive mentorship from leading artists in their fields.   Winners with distinction will have the chance to learn from notable artists such as ballerina Misty Copeland, dance artists Rashaun Mitchell and Silas Reiner, actress Lorna Courtney, multidisciplinary artist Brian Ellison, and national bestselling author and filmmaker Abigail Hing Wen.  Following National YoungArts Week, Castro is eligible to be nominated to become a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, one of the highest honors given to students by the president of the United States. YoungArts, the sole nominating agency, nominates 60 artists to the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars, from which the 20 U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts are selected.   “All YoungArts award winners have demonstrated exceptional technique, a strong sense of artistry, and an extraordinary commitment to developing their craft,” the release states. “This year, winners were selected from nearly 11,000 applications across 10 artistic disciplines – classical music, dance, design, film, jazz, photography, theater, visual arts, voice and writing.”  For the duration of his career, Castro is eligible for exclusive creative and professional development support, microgrants and financial awards, and presentation opportunities in collaboration with major venues and cultural partners nationwide, as well as become part of an intergenerational network of more than 22,000 past award winners.  This year’s YoungArts winners also have the opportunity to participate in YoungArts Labs, all-expenses-paid learning intensives with field-defining artists in Los Angeles, New York, and Nashville, the release states.  The YoungArts competition is open to artists 15-18 years old. For more information about becoming a YoungArts award winner, go to youngarts.org/competition.  The post Golden Valley grad receives YoungArts award for jazz alto saxophone accomplishments  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.