2024 National Screeners

Every student who applies to the Songbook Academy receives detailed feedback from our national panel of vocal and music professionals. Meet this year's incredible panel of adjudicators!

Max Chernin is from Shaker Heights, Ohio. He most recently appeared in the award-winning Broadway revival of Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry’s Parade. Broadway: Bright Star Sunday In The Park With George (2017). New York: Bernstein’s Mass (Lincoln Center), The Golden Apple (New York City Center), and Brooklynite (Vineyard). Regional: Passing Through (Goodspeed), Newtown (Geva Theater), Daddy Long Legs (Theatre Raleigh) and Elf: The Musical (North Carolina Theater, Pioneer Theater Company). His solo show, The Color Ginger premiered in NYC at 54 Below and later played Green Room 42. On screen, Max can be seen in “Dickinson”, “The Blacklist”, “Mozart In The Jungle”, “The Family”, and Adam Sandler’s The Week Of. He holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) Max is the 2024 American Traditions Vocal Competition Silver Medalist. As a teaching artist, Max has collaborated with Marymount Manhattan College (adjunct), NYU Tisch School of the Arts, YoungArts, The Jimmy Awards, and NHSI “Cherubs”. He is a proud member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA. @maxcherns www.maxchernin.com

Steven Cuevas (he/him) is a NYC-based music director, musician, orchestrator, and arranger. Broadway: Days of Wine and Roses; New York, New York; Dancin’; & Juliet; Moulin Rouge!; Tina: The Tina Turner Musical; Once On This Island; Anastasia; Kinky Boots. Select Off-Broadway: The Connector, Hell’s Kitchen, Kinky Boots, Little Shop of Horrors, We Are The Tigers, Closer Than Ever. Tours: Moulin Rouge!, Once On This Island, Kinky Boots, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Spring Awakening. Regional: Eighty-Sixed (Diversionary Theatre), Macbeth in Stride (A.R.T., Shakespeare Theatre Company, Philadelphia Theatre Company). Recordings: Once On This Island, How the Grinch…, Monstersongs. Orchestrations: Macbeth in Stride, Gold Mountain. Proud member: Local 802 AFM, AEA, Recording Academy, Filipino American community. @StevenMCuevas

Kathleen Hacker, soprano, made her New York debut as soloist with the American Symphony Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall and has sung with major symphony orchestras across the country, including those of Baltimore, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Cincinnati and Indianapolis. She has been a regular cover for Sandi Patty in the Indianapolis Symphony Yuletide Celebration. and can be heard as soprano soloist on the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir 75th anniversary release of Mendelssohn’s Elijah. As a chamber musician, where she is most at home, Kathleen has appeared throughout the country and abroad, with more than 250 concerts to her credit. Kathleen is Professor of Music Emerita at the University of Indianapolis where she taught all things vocal, led professional development and creativity classes, and served as Artistic Director of the Opera Theatre. She is an avid supporter of young singers and has served as mentor and judge for Schmidt Vocal Arts and the Songbook Academy. 

Multi-talented performing artist and veteran educator, Sonia Santiago is a distinguished music educator and voice instructor and has one of the most sought-after and successful voice studios in South Florida. As an accomplished voice instructor, she emphasizes vocal freedom through healthy vocal technique in all genres. This carries through to her work with ensembles and choirs throughout the state. She believes that bringing a sound vocal technique into the choral rehearsal is not only essential in healthy development but paramount in producing the highest-level experience for both the singer and the audience. Her services as a vocal clinician, conductor, and adjudicator are in great demand throughout Florida and the country. Her vocal expertise and guidance have been sought out by such organizations as Michael Feinstein’s Songbook Academy, NBC’s The Voice, and America’s Got Talent, among others. Mrs. Santiago currently serves as Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida. In addition to teaching voice to music majors of various disciplines, she directs the university’s Oratorio Choir, Concert Choir, as well as the Pop/Rock Vocal Ensemble. 

Born in Miami, Florida, Sonia Santiago is the daughter of Cuban immigrants. She holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Florida, and a master’s degree in vocal performance from Florida State University. Sonia and her husband Felix call West Palm Beach home, where they reside with their three sons Nicholas, Christopher, and Jonathan. Her son Christopher, a talented jazz singer and trumpeter, can be heard regularly on Legends Radio 100.3 FM, as the Young Artist Award Winner of the Society for the Preservation of the Great American Songbook.