The joy and power of music have been revered and celebrated at Moravian Academy for the past 276 years. Music is a cherished part of our tradition and is nurtured as a key pillar in the development of each student’s mind, body, and spirit.

According to the National Association for Music Education, musical training helps develop proficiency in language and reasoning, improves memorization, and analytical thinking skills while also keeping students engaged in school while building their confidence, self-esteem, and sense of achievement.

Playing music also serves as a relaxing activity that reduces stress and helps to spark students’ imagination and intellectual curiosity while improving test scores in other academic subjects, with a recent study revealing music performance or appreciation helped increase SATs scores.

Part of the Heritage

As a church-related school, music has always been central to our heritage and curriculum and is something the Academy continues to foster at all grade levels. Students are exposed to a wide variety of instruments, learn to sing songs from around the world, and study music history as it ties into the curriculum being taught in other departments.

 

Moravian Academy’s theme-based learning in the Lower and Middle schools allows students to study the same topic across many departments in order to gain a deeper understanding. For example, when the second-grade studies the country of Japan, not only do they learn about Japanese history and culture, but they also practice Taiko drumming and learn to sing and play “Hotaru Koi” on xylophones.

Moravian Academy’s commitment to our music program remains stronger than ever and has resulted in a student body that’s highly engaged in their pursuit and appreciation of the musical arts. Instruction begins in the 3-year-old Primer program and as students get older, music is then built into the class schedule, which provides more opportunities to play with peers, promote teamwork and reinforce positive collaboration. While music-related classes become an elective in middle school, more than 80 percent of students continue to participate in a music or performance group of some kind in Middle and Upper School.

The ability to read music, play an instrument, and improvise are very beneficial to the brain’s development and we build on those skills early and offer an increasing number of options to students as they get older. Among the many music activities students can participate in throughout their school years are traditional band and orchestra groups, jazz bands and ensembles, a string orchestra, a student-driven house band, and handbell choirs. Vocal music opportunities include chorus, chorale, an elite ‘Chamber Singers’ group, plays, and even a school a cappella group called ‘Coda Red.’

 

All of these activities involve recitals, formal concerts, chapel services, and other meaningful opportunities for students to perform throughout the year and share their gifts and talents with family members and the community.