From their earliest years, all MKA students are performing artists. They sing in seasonal concerts, both in English and in either Spanish or French, and they begin to play handbells and choirchimes in first grade and the recorder in third grade. In addition, all students in Kindergarten through third grade perform in a class play each year. The MKA Strings Program is also open to students on all three campuses, and performs an annual concert at Carnegie Hall each spring. Preparation for such public performances provides students with the opportunity to work together toward a common performance goal; to develop a comfort with performing for an audience; and to hone their acting, dance and music skills.
Middle School students continue to engage in the performing arts and to hone their skills through participation in the choral, band or strings program or through the selective Jazz Band or Chamber Singers. All of these musical groups perform several times a year at concerts, assemblies and other school functions. They also end each school year with participation in the national Music in the Parks competition, where they have consistently received countless awards of excellence in every category. All students take quarter-long classes in music, dance and drama through the seventh grade, and they capitalize on all of the skills that they hone there when they perform in the sixth grade musical, the seventh grade Shakespeare play and the eighth grade Performance Festival.
Upper School students have a variety of elective options for courses in the performing arts, including Band and Jazz Band, Chorale and Mastersingers, and String Orchestra; Experience of Theatre, Acting, and Performance Workshop; and dance courses at three different levels. Whether or not they are a part of formal acting courses during the academic day, students have the opportunity to audition for an annual fall play, a winter musical and a spring production, which alternates between play and movie format. In addition to being exciting productions that involve a large number of students and even faculty members, the spring movies have garnered MKA a vast array of professional awards over the years, including Telly Awards, Communicator Awards of Excellence and recognition at the Columbus Film and Video Festival, to name a few.
