From ancient art like calligraphy to global films like Everything Everywhere All at Once, and the worldwide popularity of anime and K-pop, Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) art is becoming increasingly visible in Western culture. This growing visibility raises important questions as AAPI art moves from traditional forms into modern Western culture. At Hopkins School, several events celebrating Asian American culture occur every year, particularly during AAPI month, which begins on May 1.

Bar Avraham ’26, Co-head of the Hopkins Drama Association (HDA) and lead singer in the band Persian Goodbye, is taking her final bow at Hopkins.

If you walked into the scene shop, where the set pieces of each Hopkins Drama Association (HDA) production are built, during the school day you might see students measuring wood, with sawdust on the floor, and music playing in the background. While usually set design for HDA productions takes place during an afterschool program, this semester David Kenton has begun to teach a new Technical Theater class, focusing on the behind-the-scenes of every HDA production.

The Connecticut Music Educator’s Association (or CMEA) has been a festival for middle school and high school student musicians in Connecticut for over a century. According to Hopkins’s head of the Arts department, Robert Smith, “Hopkins has sent more students to the festival than any other high school in Connecticut.” The audition entails performing the year’s designated piece, a short sight reading, and a scale. Musicians participate in a regional ensemble that performs in the winter time. Students that are accepted are also able to audition again for a chance to perform at All States on the national level.

Some singers find their voice over time. Quinby Berry ’26 found his—and then used it to lead others. A tenor deeply involved in Hopkins’ arts community, Berry has taken the stage in productions ranging from the musical Cabaret to the Hopkins Drama Associations (HDA) production 1960’s set Twelfth Night. In the latter, he performed in a Beach Boy-inspired band, distinguishing the production's time period. Still, he has most enjoyed his time leading the Harmonaires, Hopkins’  tenor and bass a cappella group.

As a toddler, Caryn Kim ’26 was already surrounded by music. With a mother who worked as an organist and piano teacher, Kim grew up hearing music at home—and before long, she was learning it too. Music became part of her childhood in a natural, almost inevitable way.

Theater has always been an essential part of Cora Turk-Thomas’s ’26 life. From helping out in elementary school shows to becoming production stage manager (PSM) at Hopkins, their love for it has only grown, not only connecting them with others, but giving them skills they can carry with them throughout the rest of their life.

Artificial intelligence, or AI, has become an increasingly visible part of daily life at Hopkins. Regarding the use of AI at Hopkins, Max Blechinger ’26 said, “I think in general it’s useful for studying or looking stuff up, but I prefer final papers for English so I don’t like that we have English exams now.” As AI tools influence the humanities, questions begin to emerge about its role in music. AI-generated music programs are capable of producing melodies, harmonies, and even complete songs within seconds. While these tools have gained attention online, their long term impact on students and faculty at Hopkins remains unclear, and opinions on AI music range from negative to indifferent.

Vivid lights spill across the stage as the crowd erupts into a roar of cheers. The newest Video Production film shines on the screen, lighting up the entire theatre with its glow. From A Day In The Life videos to horror films for the haunted house, Advanced Video Production experiments and refines their skills in all sorts of genres, tinkering with pace, framing, and edit styles. This year, the class will collaborate with the Technical Theater class and the dance community to present their film, “Piroetta” in the APAC theater on May 1st. Made in homage to Italian Filmmaker Dario Argento, the project will showcase the creativity of the filmmakers, tech crew, and the dancers on campus to visually blend storytelling and movement.

A lot has changed since ancient humans gathered in the agora to debate, to learn, to exchange ideas and to be entertained: we no longer believe that the Earth is flat, we made Icarus’s dream of flying a reality and did not get scorched by the sun, our phones contain more information than several libraries of Alexandria, but one thing has remained the same – we keep falling in love and we keep singing about it. Occasionally, we still gather in large stadiums to hear our modern-day poets pour our feelings into songs. When Charles Darwin traced the origins of music to the courtship rituals of birds, he concluded that, “Love is still the commonest theme of our songs.” So, as much as we are sometimes embarrassed to admit – relegating love songs to the guilty pleasure purgatory of our Spotify playlists – singing about love is part of our biology. While love remained an ever-present subject through the ages, the popular cultural attitudes towards love and the love song have waxed and waned, shifting from moralizing to mocking, from sentimental to rebellious, from wholesome to transgressive, from embarrassing to embracing.