MTC Names Rachel Kara Pérez as Director of Learning and Community Engagement

Rachel Kara Pérez has been named Director of Learning and Community Engagement and will lead MTC’s renowned program previously known as MTC Education. Pérez will join MTC on September 16th. She has 25 years of experience in NYC’s arts and culture sector. Prior to joining MTC, Perez has served as Manager of Education and Engagement at the Metropolitan Opera. Along with other administrative positions in arts education, she has also been a Teaching Artist and performer.

Ushering in the next era of the program along with Pérez’s appointment, MTC Education is rebranding as MTC Learning and Community Engagement. The shift centers each learner’s personal and lifelong process of acquiring knowledge, embraces people who have historically been denied access to the theatre, and ultimately reflects the community-driven values of the programs’ many initiatives.

MTC Education was created in 1989 when, recognizing the vital need to support arts education in public high schools, MTC’s visionary Artistic Director Lynne Meadow brought David Shookhoff in to develop the first education program at a major theatre in NYC. Under Shookhoff’s leadership, that initial endeavor has grown over the past 35 years into a world class, acclaimed program that has served well over 100,000 learners of all ages locally, nationally, and on five continents.

Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Director Chris Jennings said, “We are thrilled to welcome Rachel as MTC’s Director of Learning and Community Engagement. We are confident that Rachel will build on David’s vision and accomplishments as she expands the program’s scope. Rachel shares our love of theatre and our belief in its unique power to transform and enlighten. She brings a well of experience in and commitment to arts education and we look forward to her playing this major role here.”

Rachel Kara Pérez said, "As a lifelong theatre kid, this is a dream role, and a piece of New York history. I’m excited to be working in service of such a staple in the theatre community, as MTC has in many ways been at the heart and helm of arts education in New York. I look forward to supporting the mission, staff, our young people, and larger MTC communities."

MTC Learning and Community Engagement creates experiences that empower learners to engage joyfully and authentically with live theatre as authors, audience, and administrators. Each year, the program achieves this mission by working with approximately 3,000 learners in three major spaces: classroom, community, and career. 

Classroom-based initiatives offer high school students the opportunity to learn about theatre, playwriting, and production from an accomplished faculty of teaching artists. Classrooms outside of the NYC area have access to performance recordings. New plays written by local students are performed by professional actors.

MTC collaborates with community-based organizations supporting and enriching the lives of adolescents and young adults in NYC and the surrounding area. Particularly invested in reaching individuals who have experienced systemic inequities that deny or limit access to the art form, MTC’s goal is to support the communities already established by partner organizations with theatre-going experiences with preparatory workshops, playwriting residencies with culminating readings, and professional development informational opportunities. Recent community partners include A Better Chance, The Door, The Fortune Society, Partnership with Children, Recess Art: Assembly, and TEAK Fellowship.

MTC is also committed to growing and empowering a talented, highly-skilled, and well prepared theatre workforce for the future. A growing number of career initiatives open doors through exploration, training, and advancement opportunities for an array of theatre workers at varying points on their professional journeys.

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