Míkhaiah Blake
- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Stunts
Míkhaiah Blake is an American-born actress, model, multi-instrumental musician, vocal producer, electronic music composer, modern & theatrical dancer and visual design artist. She was born in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, the middle child of three, with two brothers. Her acting journey began as a youth in the theater, auditioning, studying, training and performing in music and acting from an incredibly tender, young age. She was cast as a lead in her first professional stage production at just 4 years old. Míkhaiah's background and professional training continued to be refined from a child in theatrical stage, as well as dance and music performance-specifically vocals, vocal arranging and multi-instrumental music.
Growing up in the Tri-State area, her interests were honed under her family of notable performing artists. Míkhaiah hails from a family of many talented and accomplished, professional artists, comprised of classically and jazz trained musicians, producers, composers, vocalists, stage performers, playwrights and writers.
She is the niece of the late, internationally renowned jazz violinist and composer, John Blake Jr. , granddaughter of the late playwright, literary writer, columnist and boxer, John Blake Sr., first cousin of acclaimed Blue Note Records international composer, jazz artist, and Grammy-nominated drummer, Johnathan Blake, niece of award-winning master theatrical storyteller & stage actress, writer, narrator, symphony orchestra librettist and multi-instrumentalist Charlotte Blake-Alston, sibling of international music producer and recording artist Jesse Aktual Blake , first cousin of lifestyle, portrait and automotive photographer Emmanuél Alston and she is the niece of the late composer and sitarist Elliot Blake, (one of the few African-American sitarists of his time and a former student of classical sitar music virtuoso and legend, Ravi Shankar). Míkhaiah's father is composer, virtuoso pianist, music producer and international smooth jazz recording artist, Alan Blake and her mother is multi-genre vocalist and pianist Clarlitti "Lita" Blake.
Míkhaiah was raised in Wynewood's neighboring Rosemont area of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania-within the historically informally-delineated, affluent social region of the east coast known as 'The Main Line'. Míkhaiah's hometown of Bryn Mawr has been home to many famous names, including the late Academy Award-winning actress Katharine Hepburn , billionaire heiress to Mars, Inc., Jacqueline Mars, former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson , president of Harvard University, Derek Bok, former diplomat Richard Swett, American Pulitzer Prize playwright George Kelly , uncle of late actress Grace Kelly , the late creator of One Life to Live (1968) and All My Children (1970), Agnes Nixon , the late actress Jayne Mansfield , and many other scholars, historians, and dignitaries of their fields. The Welsh-founded area she calls home, located in the prestigious, well-known, Lower Merion Township lying in suburban-metro Philadelphia, consistently ranked home to the second wealthiest zip codes in the U.S. on the east coast-after only Gold Coast, NY, while dominating as the most expensive zip codes in the state of Pennsylvania. Accordingly, Bryn Mawr itself has ranked as one of the most affluent suburbs in the nation, influencing the fictional location settings of a variety of popular television shows and films. Nixon's soap opera, All My Children (1970) , set in fictional Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, was based on the town of Bryn Mawr, while One Life to Live (1968) , set in fictional Llanview, Pennsylvania was based on Bryn Mawr's adjacent town of Ardmore. The popular television series Pretty Little Liars (2010) , set in fictional Rosewood, Pennsylvania, is also loosely based on Mikhaiah's hometown in Rosemont/Bryn Mawr. The Lower Merion area has had honorable mention in a number of television series, including Bravo's Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce (2014) , as character Jake McCarthy, played by Paul Adelstein, once references his Jewish upbringing and exceptionally refined education at the area's real high school alma mater of the same name. While the Main Line is indeed generally recognized as a place of palatial estates, great wealth, remarkably distinguished demeanors, international diversity, stately countenances, striking educational & extracurricular merits, pronounced academic discipline and occupational excellence-it is also a place where especially strong blood and familial generational ties have been historically, heavily valued. Míkhaiah's family hails from the Main Line with multiple generations of her mother's family having called the area home.
Míkhaiah's father, of Philadelphia proper was born to WWII Air Force veteran, playwright, literary writer, author, columnist and boxer, John Blake, Sr. a.k.a. "Kid Chocolate Buster". Her paternal grandfather came from a line of military veterans, including members of the WWI historical American Expeditionary Force of France; her paternal grandmother, a professional chamber organist and homemaker, was honored as the first mother of the year of color by the city of Philadelphia. The couple's five children together of mixed Kenyan, Sierra Leonian, Nigerian, and South Asian Indo-Aryan descent, were raised in generational familial tradition of dignified, strict regimens of classical musical study and performance, music theory and societal musicology, bequeathing credit to her father's familial upper tier and grandeur of successful, preeminent Philadelphia dignitaries of performing arts. The family's musical legacy on the area was observed by the Musicians' Mural of Philadelphia, paying homage to her father's oldest and late sibling, Sir John Blake, Jr., the world renowned violinist.
Míkhaiah's maternal grandparents, of Main Line proper, were successful Main Line business proprietors with grit; her maternal grandmother, originally of Malian descent, relocated on her own as a young adult, trading the comforts of an upstate New York estate in North Hempstead, Nassau County, in exchange for braving new horizons on the Main Line, after grieving her parents, who'd both tragically, suddenly and unexpectedly passed away in her teens. Míkhaiah's maternal grandfather's family were comprised of Morrocan Berber Jew Amazighs, Indo-Souians, Finland, Wales and largely Albanaigh Uladh immigrants of Lithlingow and Livingston areas of West Lothian, Scotland, U.K. eventually emigrating to together from Morocco and Scotland as Celtic Amazighs. Those who'd intermarried and immigrated back to West Lothian, sought refuge to Donegal and Londonderry, Northern Ireland, after fleeing demoralizing religious discrimination and economic persecution.
After finally emigrating to the United States, primarily settling in Chester County, Pennsylvania and Nottingham Township, the family spread further south into Montgomery County where both Míkhaiah, her siblings and her mother were born. With only less than three-hundred living descendants of the original family surname still remaining in the Northern Ireland area, the family name's strong multi-generational presence in the area is duly noted. An entire township of Pennsylvania, was named in honor of one of its first emigrating settlers of the area, after the surname. Pennsylvania, historically contained one of the largest diaspora migrations of Ultach immigrants, with considerable Native American solidarity resulting in co-habitating and intermingling well together. Many of Míkhaiah's grandfather's indigenous Native-American familial Souian tribe of origin, also migrated into those areas of Pennsylvania within the same period during the signing of the sweeping Covenant Chain's Albany treaty, where they found peaceful co-habitation for many years. Philadelphia and its surrounding areas became most attractive due to their more pluralistic societies at the time, inevitably blending and inter-marrying between ethnic groups. Míkhaiah's parents eventually met in Philadelphia through their band Love & Peace in the 70's, when her mother replaced the band's lead vocalist and the two later secretly married.
Míkhaiah's accomplished parents were consistent artistic contributors of music & the arts in schools, whilst she and her brothers were growing up. They heavily encouraged her participation in the arts-as both her mother and father were also born into musical families. Her parents eventually formed their own musical duo, appropriately called The Two of Us. Her parents would comprise the international smooth jazz-soul music duo, formerly known as The Two of Us, the Blake Music Entertainment Group. Míkhaiah's mother, the illustrious jazz vocalist/arranger, pianist, former modern dancer, visual designer and celebrity vocal coach, attended Howard University, studying dance performance and vocal jazz under American leading jazz artist, Donald Toussaint L'Ouverture Bryd II, a.k.a. Dr. Donald Byrd. Her mother has performed with the legendary jazz pianist Billy Taylor and bassist Ron Carter and others. She mentored, instructed and performed with artists including vocalist Rachelle Ferrell, as well as actress BernNadette Stanis of Good Times (1974) among others. She was also a professional music arts therapist and choral conductor.
Míkhaiah's father, the virtuoso pianist, composer, keyboardist, vocalist, music producer/engineer and pro-audio guru, has written music for, performed and recorded with a number of prominent artists. Her father was also the first African-American male marketing and sales manager, as well as the lead consultant for the pro-audio giant, ENSONIQ Corp. in Malvern, PA-known principally for its progressive, ahead-of-its-time innovative samplers and synthesizers throughout the mid-eighties and nineties. He is known to still engage his deep passion and drive for the simplicity of pro-audio consulting management, marketing and mastery of closing business deals among his corporate and individual clients, despite his extensive repertoire of musical achievements. Míkhaiah's parents are featured vocalists on the late George Howard #1 Billboard Jazz chart hit "Dancin' in the Sun". Her father also co-wrote the hit song, "For Grover and George" with Bob Baldwin, among others artists, landing in the top 2011 year-end Billboard Smooth Jazz charts. He served as the lead recording engineer for Raisin' Cane: A Harlem Renaissance Odyssey's 'Handy Man Blues' (the touring theatrical production highlighting the creation of jazz, performed by the acclaimed Avery Sharpe Trio), starring actress Jasmine Guy .
Míkhaiah's parents have been listed in the top 100 jazz artists nationally, and consistently held top spots on Reverbnation's smooth jazz artists, among other internationally recognized platforms. They've co-written, collaborated, headlined, opened with, performed and/or recorded with numerous noteworthy artists including the late George Duke, Roberta Flack, Frankie Beverly and Maze, Freddie Jackson, Jeffrey Osborne, Chaka Khan, Ne-Yo, Rudy Currants, Kirk Whalum, the late Grover Washington Jr., Gerald Veasley, India Arie, Jean Carne, Kevin Eubanks, Omar Hakim, John Blake Jr. (Míkhaiah's father's brother), Doc Gibbs, Onaje Allen Gumbs, Major Harris, Eddie Holman and Bob Thompson. Míkhaiah's parents were the featured performers at the "Salute to Greatness Awards" celebration for Quincy Jones, featured performers for 100 Black Men of America, Inc., as well as the 2006 New Years Eve Ball in St. Kitts/Nevis Island, by its Honorable Denzil Douglas-then Prime Minister. Her parents have been known to perform for numerous philanthropic organizations.
Míkhaiah first began recording and performing music locally with her parents whilst in her early years of elementary school, learning audio music sequencing, keyboards and digital composition shadowing her father; vocals and vocal arranging from her mother. She recalled being so little that she had to stand up on stools to reach all of the keyboards and sequencers in their home studio. Míkhaiah composed and recorded her first song, "March On", in her father's recording studio. She later performed the song for peers and faculty in the highly-rated Gladwyne School, as an elementary student where her parents would volunteer to perform. They would often rehearse with Míkhaiah and include her in many of their live performances as a backing vocalist and soloist, while in strong support of the arts and her musical development. With such artistic parents and family, it is no wonder she recalled that various entertainers and recording artists, music, dancing, singing, jam sessions and grand performances in the home were the norm.
She was formally studying classical piano and voice in academia, performing as a classical flutist and piccoloist by 8 years old. She performed in venues with small orchestral quartets, along with fellow student peers and in larger scale concerts with their symphony orchestra. She attributes much of her early artistic development and interests to her education in Lower Merion Township-long known for its exceptional arts, music and theater programs, superior education ratings nationally, its tradition of innovation and reputation for producing extraordinarily high-achievers across a variety of fields-including fellow student, the late Kobe Bryant of Lower Merion. She has attributed much of her musical development to her former private teacher and conductor, Gregory Eskin. Míkhaiah attended the Welsh Valley School, where she participated in musical ensembles, chamber orchestra and band as their 1st chair flutist and principal piccoloist.
As a child and teen runway model, Míkhaiah worked for various designers, including walking professionally at only 8 years old for the late, acclaimed Italian fashion designer, Joan Calabrese-whose collections have been preserved by the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and featured in high-end children's boutiques, red carpet events, Bergdorf Goodman, Cerutti's on Madison Ave. and SAKS 5th Avenues internationally. Míkhaiah was first affiliated with John Robert Powers Modeling Agency, (believed to be the world's first modeling agency), in South Philadelphia in the 90's. She once placed in the top two of the International Modeling Search of America as a teenager and later served as a muse and portrait model for the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA).
Míkhaiah was a spunky child and her parents kept her busy with activities in the arts and athletics. As a child, she concurrently modeled, trained and performed in acting, as a vocalist and instrumentalist, as well as a competitive gymnast. Míkhaiah began professionally training in elementary school at the Philadelphia Gymnastics Center of the Main Line-Philadelphia's training ground, specializing in professional and competitive gymnastics instruction for children. Míkhaiah later co-founded her high school alma mater's 1st competitive female gymnastics team. There, she competed as a varsity all-around gymnast, typically focusing on floor and balance beam. After permanently retiring from gymnastics, she continued training in dance, including ballet and jazz, with particular interest and emphasis in modern dance, following in her mother's footsteps.
It quickly became clear that acting for the stage and musical performance were Míkhaiah's most beloved passions. At age 9, Míkhaiah accompanied her mother and attended her first Broadway musical, Black & Blue, performed at the Minskoff Theater's Manhattan stages. During her time in New York with her mother, she was introduced to three time Emmy-nominated actress and leading lady of the once longest-running drama in television, Guiding Light (1952) actress Maureen Garrett, whose work she'd greatly admired. After conversing with Garrett, Míkhaiah was certain that she wanted to become a professional actress and performer. The brief meeting was an encouraging, enlightening and pivotal moment influencing the course of her pursuits from that point forward, coupled with the encouragement of her artist parents.
Míkhaiah went on to portray stage roles for multiple traditional theater and musical theater productions throughout her upbringing including Peter Pan (as Peter Pan), Fame (as Lydia), On With The Shrew (as Holly) and Shakespeare's Medea (as Medea), among others. As a teen, Míkhaiah also honed her acting craft on the stages of the respected Harriton Theater Co. of Rosemont, the highly regarded training ground for young performers. She continued focally studying music and acting, while attending the township and state's highly ranking, Harriton High School of Rosemont, informally known as the "Country Club" high school-the impressive alma mater of many notable alum, such as David Crane, Emmy-Award Winning writer/producer and creator of Friends (1994), Emmy-Award winning director of cinematography, Hank McElwee, Lawrence Summers (former president of Harvard University; former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury), Linda Resnik (CEO of POM Wonderful and Fiji Water), writer/performer Lou D'angeli (Cirque du Soleil, WWE entertainment brand), actress Katie Wright of Melrose Place (1992), Bonnie Rosen (Gold Medalist-US National Lacrosse Team), and others. Míkhaiah attended with her fellow classmates and peers, including actor Josh Cooke of Dexter (2006), Grace and Frankie (2015), Hart of Dixie (2011), Jamie Rosen (Beauty Editor, Town & Country Magazine; Contributing Editor, Hearst Magazines), former Epic Records & Smash/Mercury Records recording artist, George Stanford, and the late Cory Erving (son of former NBA player Julius "Dr. J" Erving).
Míkhaiah's family eventually relocated to the southeast, where she continued intensive studies in dramatic arts, theater and stage performance. She studied Shakespearean verse and Classical theater, performing whilst under the mentoring of actor/director Kiran Narker, former Director of Theater Arts across Dekalb County, Georgia.
She first began attending university at the youthful age of 15, passing out of all of her remaining secondary school courses after transferring from Lower Merion Township and its exceedingly elite educational standards. Uncertain of narrowing down her pursuits into one concentration, she instead explored a multi-faceted, post-secondary self-designed undergraduate track in Interdisciplinary Studies with emphasis in therapy and fine arts, drama, stagecraft, media and film studies, dance performance and performative music.
While attending university, Míkhaiah also continued her studies in vocal arranging, operatic and classical vocal & piano performance at the distinguished F. Ludwig Diehn School of Music.
In addition to her father's mentorship, she also studied audio music production under Old Dominion University and Hampton University audio engineer/production professors, Steve Latham & Bobby "B-Dub" Wright, with whom she collaborated with as a contributing vocalist, vocal producer and songwriter on The Monarchy's 2014 multi-genre album, Eye of the Storm.
As a dancer, Míkhaiah trained in dance performance under noteworthy choreographers, artistic directors, interdisciplinary dance artists and instructors including the highly regarded Marilyn Marloff, Rachel Thorne-Germond, Elizabeth Mccune-Dishman (Coriolis Dance, Dishman + Co.), Megan Thompson (founder of Artpile) and the late, revered choreographer Amanda Kinzer.
Míkhaiah formally trained in acting at the Herbert Berghof Studio conservatory in New York, as well as intermittent studies and workshops at Playhouse West, L.A., Second City Hollywood and The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles. She has studied under award-winning actors and directors including Austin Pendleton, Marsha Mason, Alec Baldwin & Holly Gagnier, Keith David, and Paul Pryce. Additionally, she studied with the Beverly Hills Playhouse, focusing in playreading analysis, and the business of acting series under the critically-acclaimed playwright, director and actor Allen Barton.
Her artistic approach to musical experimentation and exploration in her upcoming debut album releases, in collaboration with her younger brother Jesse, fuse performative disciplines in stage, musical theater and modern dance, with harmonic vocals and an innovative, multi-genre blend of electronic, symphony, chamber, chorale, cinematic, monochromatic, modern classical pop and dance music-her influences stemming from her extremely unique exposure at a tender and young age, to international music, contemporary vocal instruction, choral and operatic classical voice, as well as instrumental training. She also heavily attributes her expansive multi-genre sound to her unusual, atypical familial upbringing surrounded by audio music production and an abundance of professional jazz, classical and electronic music artists, composers, dancers, theatrical and stage performers within her immediate and extended family.
She has been an advocate and/or artistic contributor supporting activism, outreach, advocacy and awareness related to domestic violence, violence against Native American and other minority women, sexual assault, human and child sex trafficking, as well as other causes. She is of the Messianic Jewish faith. She enjoys painting, horseback riding, wine tasting, traveling, gathering with loved ones and visual design arts in her spare time. She resides in Los Angeles, California.
Growing up in the Tri-State area, her interests were honed under her family of notable performing artists. Míkhaiah hails from a family of many talented and accomplished, professional artists, comprised of classically and jazz trained musicians, producers, composers, vocalists, stage performers, playwrights and writers.
She is the niece of the late, internationally renowned jazz violinist and composer, John Blake Jr. , granddaughter of the late playwright, literary writer, columnist and boxer, John Blake Sr., first cousin of acclaimed Blue Note Records international composer, jazz artist, and Grammy-nominated drummer, Johnathan Blake, niece of award-winning master theatrical storyteller & stage actress, writer, narrator, symphony orchestra librettist and multi-instrumentalist Charlotte Blake-Alston, sibling of international music producer and recording artist Jesse Aktual Blake , first cousin of lifestyle, portrait and automotive photographer Emmanuél Alston and she is the niece of the late composer and sitarist Elliot Blake, (one of the few African-American sitarists of his time and a former student of classical sitar music virtuoso and legend, Ravi Shankar). Míkhaiah's father is composer, virtuoso pianist, music producer and international smooth jazz recording artist, Alan Blake and her mother is multi-genre vocalist and pianist Clarlitti "Lita" Blake.
Míkhaiah was raised in Wynewood's neighboring Rosemont area of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania-within the historically informally-delineated, affluent social region of the east coast known as 'The Main Line'. Míkhaiah's hometown of Bryn Mawr has been home to many famous names, including the late Academy Award-winning actress Katharine Hepburn , billionaire heiress to Mars, Inc., Jacqueline Mars, former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson , president of Harvard University, Derek Bok, former diplomat Richard Swett, American Pulitzer Prize playwright George Kelly , uncle of late actress Grace Kelly , the late creator of One Life to Live (1968) and All My Children (1970), Agnes Nixon , the late actress Jayne Mansfield , and many other scholars, historians, and dignitaries of their fields. The Welsh-founded area she calls home, located in the prestigious, well-known, Lower Merion Township lying in suburban-metro Philadelphia, consistently ranked home to the second wealthiest zip codes in the U.S. on the east coast-after only Gold Coast, NY, while dominating as the most expensive zip codes in the state of Pennsylvania. Accordingly, Bryn Mawr itself has ranked as one of the most affluent suburbs in the nation, influencing the fictional location settings of a variety of popular television shows and films. Nixon's soap opera, All My Children (1970) , set in fictional Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, was based on the town of Bryn Mawr, while One Life to Live (1968) , set in fictional Llanview, Pennsylvania was based on Bryn Mawr's adjacent town of Ardmore. The popular television series Pretty Little Liars (2010) , set in fictional Rosewood, Pennsylvania, is also loosely based on Mikhaiah's hometown in Rosemont/Bryn Mawr. The Lower Merion area has had honorable mention in a number of television series, including Bravo's Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce (2014) , as character Jake McCarthy, played by Paul Adelstein, once references his Jewish upbringing and exceptionally refined education at the area's real high school alma mater of the same name. While the Main Line is indeed generally recognized as a place of palatial estates, great wealth, remarkably distinguished demeanors, international diversity, stately countenances, striking educational & extracurricular merits, pronounced academic discipline and occupational excellence-it is also a place where especially strong blood and familial generational ties have been historically, heavily valued. Míkhaiah's family hails from the Main Line with multiple generations of her mother's family having called the area home.
Míkhaiah's father, of Philadelphia proper was born to WWII Air Force veteran, playwright, literary writer, author, columnist and boxer, John Blake, Sr. a.k.a. "Kid Chocolate Buster". Her paternal grandfather came from a line of military veterans, including members of the WWI historical American Expeditionary Force of France; her paternal grandmother, a professional chamber organist and homemaker, was honored as the first mother of the year of color by the city of Philadelphia. The couple's five children together of mixed Kenyan, Sierra Leonian, Nigerian, and South Asian Indo-Aryan descent, were raised in generational familial tradition of dignified, strict regimens of classical musical study and performance, music theory and societal musicology, bequeathing credit to her father's familial upper tier and grandeur of successful, preeminent Philadelphia dignitaries of performing arts. The family's musical legacy on the area was observed by the Musicians' Mural of Philadelphia, paying homage to her father's oldest and late sibling, Sir John Blake, Jr., the world renowned violinist.
Míkhaiah's maternal grandparents, of Main Line proper, were successful Main Line business proprietors with grit; her maternal grandmother, originally of Malian descent, relocated on her own as a young adult, trading the comforts of an upstate New York estate in North Hempstead, Nassau County, in exchange for braving new horizons on the Main Line, after grieving her parents, who'd both tragically, suddenly and unexpectedly passed away in her teens. Míkhaiah's maternal grandfather's family were comprised of Morrocan Berber Jew Amazighs, Indo-Souians, Finland, Wales and largely Albanaigh Uladh immigrants of Lithlingow and Livingston areas of West Lothian, Scotland, U.K. eventually emigrating to together from Morocco and Scotland as Celtic Amazighs. Those who'd intermarried and immigrated back to West Lothian, sought refuge to Donegal and Londonderry, Northern Ireland, after fleeing demoralizing religious discrimination and economic persecution.
After finally emigrating to the United States, primarily settling in Chester County, Pennsylvania and Nottingham Township, the family spread further south into Montgomery County where both Míkhaiah, her siblings and her mother were born. With only less than three-hundred living descendants of the original family surname still remaining in the Northern Ireland area, the family name's strong multi-generational presence in the area is duly noted. An entire township of Pennsylvania, was named in honor of one of its first emigrating settlers of the area, after the surname. Pennsylvania, historically contained one of the largest diaspora migrations of Ultach immigrants, with considerable Native American solidarity resulting in co-habitating and intermingling well together. Many of Míkhaiah's grandfather's indigenous Native-American familial Souian tribe of origin, also migrated into those areas of Pennsylvania within the same period during the signing of the sweeping Covenant Chain's Albany treaty, where they found peaceful co-habitation for many years. Philadelphia and its surrounding areas became most attractive due to their more pluralistic societies at the time, inevitably blending and inter-marrying between ethnic groups. Míkhaiah's parents eventually met in Philadelphia through their band Love & Peace in the 70's, when her mother replaced the band's lead vocalist and the two later secretly married.
Míkhaiah's accomplished parents were consistent artistic contributors of music & the arts in schools, whilst she and her brothers were growing up. They heavily encouraged her participation in the arts-as both her mother and father were also born into musical families. Her parents eventually formed their own musical duo, appropriately called The Two of Us. Her parents would comprise the international smooth jazz-soul music duo, formerly known as The Two of Us, the Blake Music Entertainment Group. Míkhaiah's mother, the illustrious jazz vocalist/arranger, pianist, former modern dancer, visual designer and celebrity vocal coach, attended Howard University, studying dance performance and vocal jazz under American leading jazz artist, Donald Toussaint L'Ouverture Bryd II, a.k.a. Dr. Donald Byrd. Her mother has performed with the legendary jazz pianist Billy Taylor and bassist Ron Carter and others. She mentored, instructed and performed with artists including vocalist Rachelle Ferrell, as well as actress BernNadette Stanis of Good Times (1974) among others. She was also a professional music arts therapist and choral conductor.
Míkhaiah's father, the virtuoso pianist, composer, keyboardist, vocalist, music producer/engineer and pro-audio guru, has written music for, performed and recorded with a number of prominent artists. Her father was also the first African-American male marketing and sales manager, as well as the lead consultant for the pro-audio giant, ENSONIQ Corp. in Malvern, PA-known principally for its progressive, ahead-of-its-time innovative samplers and synthesizers throughout the mid-eighties and nineties. He is known to still engage his deep passion and drive for the simplicity of pro-audio consulting management, marketing and mastery of closing business deals among his corporate and individual clients, despite his extensive repertoire of musical achievements. Míkhaiah's parents are featured vocalists on the late George Howard #1 Billboard Jazz chart hit "Dancin' in the Sun". Her father also co-wrote the hit song, "For Grover and George" with Bob Baldwin, among others artists, landing in the top 2011 year-end Billboard Smooth Jazz charts. He served as the lead recording engineer for Raisin' Cane: A Harlem Renaissance Odyssey's 'Handy Man Blues' (the touring theatrical production highlighting the creation of jazz, performed by the acclaimed Avery Sharpe Trio), starring actress Jasmine Guy .
Míkhaiah's parents have been listed in the top 100 jazz artists nationally, and consistently held top spots on Reverbnation's smooth jazz artists, among other internationally recognized platforms. They've co-written, collaborated, headlined, opened with, performed and/or recorded with numerous noteworthy artists including the late George Duke, Roberta Flack, Frankie Beverly and Maze, Freddie Jackson, Jeffrey Osborne, Chaka Khan, Ne-Yo, Rudy Currants, Kirk Whalum, the late Grover Washington Jr., Gerald Veasley, India Arie, Jean Carne, Kevin Eubanks, Omar Hakim, John Blake Jr. (Míkhaiah's father's brother), Doc Gibbs, Onaje Allen Gumbs, Major Harris, Eddie Holman and Bob Thompson. Míkhaiah's parents were the featured performers at the "Salute to Greatness Awards" celebration for Quincy Jones, featured performers for 100 Black Men of America, Inc., as well as the 2006 New Years Eve Ball in St. Kitts/Nevis Island, by its Honorable Denzil Douglas-then Prime Minister. Her parents have been known to perform for numerous philanthropic organizations.
Míkhaiah first began recording and performing music locally with her parents whilst in her early years of elementary school, learning audio music sequencing, keyboards and digital composition shadowing her father; vocals and vocal arranging from her mother. She recalled being so little that she had to stand up on stools to reach all of the keyboards and sequencers in their home studio. Míkhaiah composed and recorded her first song, "March On", in her father's recording studio. She later performed the song for peers and faculty in the highly-rated Gladwyne School, as an elementary student where her parents would volunteer to perform. They would often rehearse with Míkhaiah and include her in many of their live performances as a backing vocalist and soloist, while in strong support of the arts and her musical development. With such artistic parents and family, it is no wonder she recalled that various entertainers and recording artists, music, dancing, singing, jam sessions and grand performances in the home were the norm.
She was formally studying classical piano and voice in academia, performing as a classical flutist and piccoloist by 8 years old. She performed in venues with small orchestral quartets, along with fellow student peers and in larger scale concerts with their symphony orchestra. She attributes much of her early artistic development and interests to her education in Lower Merion Township-long known for its exceptional arts, music and theater programs, superior education ratings nationally, its tradition of innovation and reputation for producing extraordinarily high-achievers across a variety of fields-including fellow student, the late Kobe Bryant of Lower Merion. She has attributed much of her musical development to her former private teacher and conductor, Gregory Eskin. Míkhaiah attended the Welsh Valley School, where she participated in musical ensembles, chamber orchestra and band as their 1st chair flutist and principal piccoloist.
As a child and teen runway model, Míkhaiah worked for various designers, including walking professionally at only 8 years old for the late, acclaimed Italian fashion designer, Joan Calabrese-whose collections have been preserved by the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and featured in high-end children's boutiques, red carpet events, Bergdorf Goodman, Cerutti's on Madison Ave. and SAKS 5th Avenues internationally. Míkhaiah was first affiliated with John Robert Powers Modeling Agency, (believed to be the world's first modeling agency), in South Philadelphia in the 90's. She once placed in the top two of the International Modeling Search of America as a teenager and later served as a muse and portrait model for the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA).
Míkhaiah was a spunky child and her parents kept her busy with activities in the arts and athletics. As a child, she concurrently modeled, trained and performed in acting, as a vocalist and instrumentalist, as well as a competitive gymnast. Míkhaiah began professionally training in elementary school at the Philadelphia Gymnastics Center of the Main Line-Philadelphia's training ground, specializing in professional and competitive gymnastics instruction for children. Míkhaiah later co-founded her high school alma mater's 1st competitive female gymnastics team. There, she competed as a varsity all-around gymnast, typically focusing on floor and balance beam. After permanently retiring from gymnastics, she continued training in dance, including ballet and jazz, with particular interest and emphasis in modern dance, following in her mother's footsteps.
It quickly became clear that acting for the stage and musical performance were Míkhaiah's most beloved passions. At age 9, Míkhaiah accompanied her mother and attended her first Broadway musical, Black & Blue, performed at the Minskoff Theater's Manhattan stages. During her time in New York with her mother, she was introduced to three time Emmy-nominated actress and leading lady of the once longest-running drama in television, Guiding Light (1952) actress Maureen Garrett, whose work she'd greatly admired. After conversing with Garrett, Míkhaiah was certain that she wanted to become a professional actress and performer. The brief meeting was an encouraging, enlightening and pivotal moment influencing the course of her pursuits from that point forward, coupled with the encouragement of her artist parents.
Míkhaiah went on to portray stage roles for multiple traditional theater and musical theater productions throughout her upbringing including Peter Pan (as Peter Pan), Fame (as Lydia), On With The Shrew (as Holly) and Shakespeare's Medea (as Medea), among others. As a teen, Míkhaiah also honed her acting craft on the stages of the respected Harriton Theater Co. of Rosemont, the highly regarded training ground for young performers. She continued focally studying music and acting, while attending the township and state's highly ranking, Harriton High School of Rosemont, informally known as the "Country Club" high school-the impressive alma mater of many notable alum, such as David Crane, Emmy-Award Winning writer/producer and creator of Friends (1994), Emmy-Award winning director of cinematography, Hank McElwee, Lawrence Summers (former president of Harvard University; former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury), Linda Resnik (CEO of POM Wonderful and Fiji Water), writer/performer Lou D'angeli (Cirque du Soleil, WWE entertainment brand), actress Katie Wright of Melrose Place (1992), Bonnie Rosen (Gold Medalist-US National Lacrosse Team), and others. Míkhaiah attended with her fellow classmates and peers, including actor Josh Cooke of Dexter (2006), Grace and Frankie (2015), Hart of Dixie (2011), Jamie Rosen (Beauty Editor, Town & Country Magazine; Contributing Editor, Hearst Magazines), former Epic Records & Smash/Mercury Records recording artist, George Stanford, and the late Cory Erving (son of former NBA player Julius "Dr. J" Erving).
Míkhaiah's family eventually relocated to the southeast, where she continued intensive studies in dramatic arts, theater and stage performance. She studied Shakespearean verse and Classical theater, performing whilst under the mentoring of actor/director Kiran Narker, former Director of Theater Arts across Dekalb County, Georgia.
She first began attending university at the youthful age of 15, passing out of all of her remaining secondary school courses after transferring from Lower Merion Township and its exceedingly elite educational standards. Uncertain of narrowing down her pursuits into one concentration, she instead explored a multi-faceted, post-secondary self-designed undergraduate track in Interdisciplinary Studies with emphasis in therapy and fine arts, drama, stagecraft, media and film studies, dance performance and performative music.
While attending university, Míkhaiah also continued her studies in vocal arranging, operatic and classical vocal & piano performance at the distinguished F. Ludwig Diehn School of Music.
In addition to her father's mentorship, she also studied audio music production under Old Dominion University and Hampton University audio engineer/production professors, Steve Latham & Bobby "B-Dub" Wright, with whom she collaborated with as a contributing vocalist, vocal producer and songwriter on The Monarchy's 2014 multi-genre album, Eye of the Storm.
As a dancer, Míkhaiah trained in dance performance under noteworthy choreographers, artistic directors, interdisciplinary dance artists and instructors including the highly regarded Marilyn Marloff, Rachel Thorne-Germond, Elizabeth Mccune-Dishman (Coriolis Dance, Dishman + Co.), Megan Thompson (founder of Artpile) and the late, revered choreographer Amanda Kinzer.
Míkhaiah formally trained in acting at the Herbert Berghof Studio conservatory in New York, as well as intermittent studies and workshops at Playhouse West, L.A., Second City Hollywood and The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles. She has studied under award-winning actors and directors including Austin Pendleton, Marsha Mason, Alec Baldwin & Holly Gagnier, Keith David, and Paul Pryce. Additionally, she studied with the Beverly Hills Playhouse, focusing in playreading analysis, and the business of acting series under the critically-acclaimed playwright, director and actor Allen Barton.
Her artistic approach to musical experimentation and exploration in her upcoming debut album releases, in collaboration with her younger brother Jesse, fuse performative disciplines in stage, musical theater and modern dance, with harmonic vocals and an innovative, multi-genre blend of electronic, symphony, chamber, chorale, cinematic, monochromatic, modern classical pop and dance music-her influences stemming from her extremely unique exposure at a tender and young age, to international music, contemporary vocal instruction, choral and operatic classical voice, as well as instrumental training. She also heavily attributes her expansive multi-genre sound to her unusual, atypical familial upbringing surrounded by audio music production and an abundance of professional jazz, classical and electronic music artists, composers, dancers, theatrical and stage performers within her immediate and extended family.
She has been an advocate and/or artistic contributor supporting activism, outreach, advocacy and awareness related to domestic violence, violence against Native American and other minority women, sexual assault, human and child sex trafficking, as well as other causes. She is of the Messianic Jewish faith. She enjoys painting, horseback riding, wine tasting, traveling, gathering with loved ones and visual design arts in her spare time. She resides in Los Angeles, California.