2026 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 a Brooklyn-based artist from Shaker Heights, Ohio. He was most recently seen as Leo Frank in the National Tour of Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Urhy’s Parade.

Broadway: Parade, Steve Martin & Edie Brickell’s Bright Star, Sunday in the Park with George (2017).

New York: Brooklynite (Vineyard Theatre), Bernstein’s Mass (Lincoln Center), and The Golden Apple (City Center Encores!) 

Regional: Passing Through (Goodspeed Open House), Fiddler on the Roof (The MUNY), Elf (North Carolina Theatre/Pioneer Theater), Daddy Long Legs (Theatre Raleigh)

TV/Film: “Dickinson”, “The Blacklist”, “Inventing Anna”, “Mozart In The Jungle”, “The Family”, and Adam Sandler’s "The Week Of." 

His solo show, The Color Ginger premiered in NYC at 54 Below and later played Green Room 42. In addition to coaching private students, Max has collaborated with Marymount Manhattan College, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, YoungArts, The Broadway League, and NHSI “Cherubs”.

He holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) and is the recipient of the American Traditions Competition Silver Medal and Lotte Lenya Foundation's Carolyn Weber Award. 

Instagram: @maxcherns

Kathleen Hacker, soprano, made her New York debut as soloist with the American Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center (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 appeared as 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 varied concerts to her credit.

Dr. Hacker 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 The Songbook Academy, founded by Michael Feinstein, and Schmidt Vocal Arts, which is a foundation dedicated to fostering young students’ passion for classical music.

Cinderella Ksebati is a sought-after vocal coach, clinician, and performer working with emerging artists nationwide. She has collaborated with Detroit Opera, the Sutton Foster Awards (Jimmy Awards program), and the Songbook Academy®, and leads a year-long, audition-based training program for high school vocalists.

Committed to arts accessibility, she has coached over 1,000 students and built a global community through Sing with Cinderella, reaching over 10 million views on YouTube. Her students earn leading roles, place in national competitions, and attend top collegiate programs nationwide.

As a performer, she has appeared nationally and internationally, with honors including NATS National Finalist, George Shirley Competition First Prize, and American Pops Orchestra NextGen Finalist. An Arab America 30 Under 30 honoree, she holds undergraduate degrees in Voice and Music Education and a Master of Music from the University of Michigan.

Mary Michael Patterson is an Atlanta based performer, director/choreographer and educator who has been seen on Broadway in The Phantom of the Opera (Christine Daaé), Anything Goes (Hope) and the First National Tour of Love Never Dies (Meg Giry).

She has been featured in concert work at Lincoln Center and as a lead vocalist with the American Pops Orchestra. An accomplished director on stages from The Green Room 42 to Arena Stage, she also served as Assistant to the Supervisor on Broadway (The Phantom of the Opera).

www.marymichaelpatterson.com

At just 28 years old, Melinda Rose Rodriguez has made a name for herself in the jazz world. Melinda attended The New England Conservatory of Music when first beginning her professional music career. Since High School, she has been a 4-time Downbeat Music Award winner and a two-time YoungArts winner.

She has played at a number of festivals including The Miami Downtown Jazz Festival and The Litchfield Jazz Festival and has traveled as far as Bermuda and Japan to perform in other festivals. Melinda has traveled to perform alongside Michael Feinstein, Fred Hersch, Cyrille Aimee, Jane Monheit and worked frequently with jazz greats such as Kevin Mahogany.

Melinda is a recent 1st place winner in the International Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition which took place in Washington DC in early 2019. Melinda also recently debuted with the Legendary Count Basie Jazz Orchestra in 2019. She spent 2018-20 as a teaching artist at The University of Illinois, Millikin University and Illinois Wesleyan University all while pursuing her Master’s degree in performance.

2020 showed promise for Melinda as she debuted at legendary clubs across the country such as Birdland Jazz Club in New York City and Andy's Jazz Club in the heart of Chicago, IL. She was also the winner of the Ben Tucker Jazz Award and Johnny Mercer Award in the prestigious American Traditions Vocal Competition held annually in Savannah, GA.

She was a contestant on Season 17 of NBC's hit singing show, The Voice where she worked closely with Kelly Clarkson. Upon re-entering a post-covid world, Melinda was the People's Choice Award winner in the 2022 American Traditions Vocal competition and debuted with The Asheville Symphony Orchestra in late April 2022.

As of 2023, Melinda was selected as the first ever commercial vocalist of the US Army Blues Big Band in Washington, DC. She is the first singer to ever serve this element of The United States Army Band in its 51st year of existence. Ms. Rose competed in the 2024 American Traditions Vocal Competition where she placed 4th.

In June 2023, Melinda recorded her debut album, I'm On My Way, featuring original compositions and standard repertoire.