​

Kaia is a senior at Rock Ridge High School in Ashburn, Virginia; one of the strongest public Fine Arts programs in the nation with extensive collegiate level courses. She is an active leader in advanced honors choir, Rock Ridge Performing Arts, President of Tri M honors society for music, Vice President of the Choir Board, member of NHS and Thespian honors society for theatre as well as participating in an extensive array of theatre productions, performances and competitions. 

 

In her role as School Board Chair and Musical Theatre Class Rep she helped advocate for added safety and staff stipends for over 34 middle and high schools in the county and achieved a historic 2.5M WIN for Equity in the Arts! 

 

Kaia's talent to lead extends into music directing, vocal coaching, sound design, marketing and more. She is privileged to study with Jordan Markwood, Fine Arts Chair, Choral Teacher and Music Director, who won multiple Teacher of the Year awards in 2022-2023 as well as award-winning Theatre Director, Anthony Cimino-Johnson, both of whom push the boundaries in music and theatre beyond what most students could ever learn at the high school level.

 

This has afforded Kaia numerous opportunities to compete at state, regional, national and international levels (including ITF and Fringe festival productions) and vastly expand her skills and leadership.

 

Some noteworthy honors include:

 

• 2023 Excellence Award Winner, International Thespian Society

• Best Female Vocalist, 2023 Winner, Bluemont Regional Cappies

• Two-time 2022-2023 State Champions, Production of The Trench, at VTF, and Region 4 VHSL,

• Commending Resolution, Virginia Senate & "Proclamation of Excellence,” LCPS School Board

• Best Technical Merit & Outstanding Technical, State Competitions

• Five Individual and 3 Group Superior Ratings

• Two-time Virginia Performing Arts Governor's School Recipient (Regional-9th, State-10th)

• SATB Honors Choir, ACDA Regional & National Conferences

• Outstanding Choral Award, Rock Ridge High School

​

Beyond her studies at Rock Ridge, Kaia also received scholarships to study with Music Career Mastermind, an online music academy, as well as from Berklee College of Music five-week Aspire summer program. Before that she was selected to attend a month-long intensive residential program with the Virginia Governor’s School for the Performing Arts at Radford University. Kaia's favorite part of these epic experiences is the chance to work so closely with industry mentors like Melissa Mulligan,  or college professors such as Dr. Wayne Gallops and Dr. Denise Bernadini; and make connections with students across the country and world that share her passion for music!

 

When Kaia isn’t creating, designing new tracks or student directing, you'll find her procrastinating with her love of cooking, learning something new on YouTube, writing soul-full songs or making incredible playlists.

​

In college, Kaia is interested in studying music engineering and production while minoring in music industry business. No matter what she does, Kaia knows she will always use her voice to inspire others and impact the causes she believes in to make a positive difference in the world.