The wail of a saxophone echoes across a school corridor. Down the hall, drama students block a scene from their spring musical, while photography students gather in the next classroom to critique a classmate’s work. As a student in an art class puts the finishing touches on her latest sculpture, she can hear the sound of voices blending in harmony from the choir room across the way.

Malibu High School’s outstanding Visual and Performing Arts programs are a vibrant part of campus life. At a time when budgets for arts education in schools across the country have been decimated, the visual and performing arts remain an essential part of the curricular and extracurricular life at MHS. Not only does the school encourage its students to seek expression through the arts, it requires them to complete a year of coursework in the fine arts in order to graduate.

From sixth through twelfth grade, MHS students have ample opportunities to express their creativity. Middle school students can choose from an array of classes in studio art, vocal and instrumental music, and drama: offerings for high school students include classes in photography, digital design, vocal and instrumental music, audio technology, both two- and three-dimensional studio art, acting, and stagecraft. The school also offers Advanced Placement classes in music theory, photography, art history, and studio art, and has partnered with Santa Monica College to make college-level courses in vocal music and sculpture available to MHS students.

The exceptional arts teachers at Malibu High prepare their students well for college work: MHS graduates are currently enrolled in programs at many highly-selective conservatories, colleges and universities, including the Berklee School of Music, California Institute of the Arts, California College of Arts and Crafts, Brooks Institute of Photography, the opera program at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, and the acting conservatories at Yale University, New York University and Emerson College.