‘What the arts give us is empathy’: Renowned composer Stephen Schwartz mentored young MoCo performers
Young Artists of America seeks to raise $8M for permanent home in Rockville
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Jacqueline KalilMay 6, 2026 2:29 p.m.
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The lights dimmed inside the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda on Saturday afternoon as orchestral music stands, each fitted with small clip-on lights, softly illuminated the stage—the glowing orbs resembling a swarm of fireflies. Behind the orchestra, a large projection screen flickered to life with the title of the production, DreamWorks’ The Prince of Egypt.
A low hum broke the anticipatory silence—a signal that the performance was about to begin. In quick succession, performers with the Young Artists of America (YAA) took the stage, dressed in costumes resembling ancient Egyptian garb and ready to bring the biblical story of Moses to life.
“The kids always step up when it’s time for a performance, but there was something magical this time,” YAA co-founder Kristofer Sanz, the show’s musical director, said of Saturday’s show.
He speculated the heightened energy was also partially due to the presence of legendary composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, who won an Oscar for his work on the 1998 DreamWorks movie The Prince of Egypt and served as a guest mentor during the performance weekend.
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“He’s such an idol for so many of them, so just his sheer personality and being in the room can have so much power,” Kristofer Sanz said of Schwartz.
Founded in 2011 by Sanz, an orchestral conductor, and his brother, Rolando Sanz, a former professional opera singer, the Strathmore-affiliated nonprofit YAA provides professional musical theater training to about 600 students in grades four through 12 each year, representing roughly 20 public and private schools across Montgomery County and the surrounding area.
Kristofer Sanz told Bethesda Today on Sunday that the idea was born from the brothers’ shared love of musical theater. The group’s first performance was held in the Music Center at Strathmore lobby.
“It was like 60 minutes long. Parents were setting up chairs. It was very mom and pop, and we were very happy, you know, we had done it… . And then the phone rang and the emails came — what’s next?” he said.
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Fifteen years later, YAA has grown beyond what the Sanz brothers ever imagined, as has the scale of its productions. With more than 200 students participating, the staging of The Prince of Egypt marked what Rolando Sanz believes is the largest production of the work to date. It featured near-continuous orchestration, dense vocal arrangements and demanding choreography — elements that can challenge even professional companies, he said.
Schwartz — the lyricist and composer behind Broadway smash hits like Wicked, Pippin and Godspell — first connected with the organization in 2016, when the group staged his musical Children of Eden. He told Bethesda Today he was struck by both the talent and the rare inclusion of a full student orchestra—an experience that led him to stay involved.
As a guest mentor, Schwartz said his goal was to offer guidance that is both constructive and encouraging, helping students unlock new ideas while seeing their work from their perspective. The live nature of theater, he added, means even long-established works can continue to evolve.
He emphasized that the arts play a critical role in society, despite being regarded by some as a luxury.
“I feel the arts are very important … they’re central,” Schwartz said, noting they foster collaboration and self-expression. “What the arts give us is empathy … the ability to see through other people’s eyes.”
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Potomac resident Sofia Guerra, 17, who played Moses’ wife, Tzipporah in Saturday’s performance, joined YAA in 2020 for its fall production of Disney in Concert. Meeting Schwartz was an “insane” experience that “only at YAA would that happen,” she told Bethesda Today in a Monday interview.
“We already knew that he went to another YAA show about 10 years ago, but we didn’t expect him to come to this one, so just him being there was such a huge part of the show,” she said. “And everybody was a little bit nervous because of that… we had to talk back afterwards… . And he was so nice.”
A permanent home
Schwartz’s involvement with YAA extends beyond guest mentoring: He now serves as honorary co-chair of the organization’s Building Dreams Campaign aimed at establishing a dedicated performing arts facility. Schwartz was among the first approached for the role and, according to Rolando Sanz, “lent his name right away.”
After years of operating out of borrowed spaces—church basements, school auditoriums and wherever rehearsals could fit—YAA announced in February plans for a new rehearsal facility at 1626 East Jefferson St. in Rockville, with a target opening in 2027. The $8 million Building Dreams Campaign has already raised more than $5 million, according to Rolando Sanz.
“I think it would be phenomenally good if there were a dedicated art space in Montgomery county … YAA has demonstrated over and over again the high quality of the work that they do, and the number of kids that are involved, and yet, they don’t have a place to, where they can actually rehearse with all those kids,” Schwartz said.
Rolando Sanz told Bethesda Today that it became clear a few years ago something had to change: “The way we’ve been operating—out of a U-Haul, with pods in the parking lots of every school where we rehearse, and students and adults hauling equipment—is not sustainable.”
For performers like Sofia Guerra, the promise of a permanent home for YAA means expanded opportunity—more space to train, collaborate, and grow. A high school junior with her eyes on the future, Guerra said her training at YAA gives her an edge.
“The training is so, like, crucial, especially because I want to go into college for musical theater, and I just know that I’m going to have an, like, advantage to a lot of the peers because of … how I participate in YAA and the opportunities that they give me,” she said.
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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine