Kelly Adams is a twice-over graduate of the University of Southern California where she received a Bachelor of Music degree in music industry and a Master of Arts degree in music education. In 2013, she attended the Kodály Association of Southern California (KASC) Summer Institute where she fell in love with Kodály’s revolutionary methods and ideology, eventually receiving her certification under Dr. Kathy Hickey and Dr. Niké St. Clair in 2016.

Now Kelly serves as Past President on the KASC board, and currently teaches Level I Pedagogy during KASC’s Summer Institute at Azusa Pacific University. She continues to build Kodály-based curricula for the National Children’s Chorus as its Principal Associate Conductor and recently conducted students from schools across Los Angeles in the 2023 KASC Honor Chorus Festival.

Kelly is currently pursuing her Doctorate of Musical Arts in Music Teaching and Learning at the University of Southern California. When she’s not teaching or conducting, Kelly performs, writes and records with the band Karmina (search Queens of Heart to hear Karmina’s latest album) and sings in feature films (How to Train Your Dragon, Wonder, Pan, The Lorax, Promising Young Woman). Kelly is thrilled to conduct her daughter Rudi in Minuet at the National Children’s Chorus.

Simon Morris currently serves as an itinerant music teacher in Riverside USD. He teaches general music, band, and string orchestra to students in 4th-6th grades. Simon is also a Kodály Foundation for Music Education (KFME) scholarship recipient, and he holds a M.M. Kodály Pedagogy from the Kodály Center at University of Redlands, and a B.M. Instrumental Performance, Horn from Cal State Fullerton. In summer of 2025, Simon studied at the Liszt Academy’s Kodály Institute in Kecskemét, Hungary, while simultaneously attending the International Kodály Society (IKS) 2025 Symposium. Simon has also regularly attended the Organization of American Kodály Educators (OAKE) National Conference since 2023. Simon has completed his Level I, II, and III training through the Kodály Association of Southern California (KASC) Summer Music Education Institute. Through his experiences in Hungary and the United States, he has studied with several master teachers, including Dr. Kathy Hickey, Laszlo Cser, Réka Csernyik, Dr. Nóra Keresztes, and Dr. Niké St. Clair.

In addition to teaching full time in Riverside public schools, Simon works as a freelance french horn player, and maintains a small private lessons studio. He has been a guest speaker, speaking to pre-service music education majors at Cal State University, Fullerton, and California Baptist University. Simon has also served as a musicianship teacher and brass coach for the Riverside City College/California Baptist University 2025 Summer Band Camp, and a substitute conductor for the Riverside City College Community Band.