Kari Adams

Biography

Kari Adams, Ph.D., is a teacher educator, conductor, and researcher dedicated to bridging scholarship and practice in music education. With experience teaching at both the K–12 and collegiate levels, she brings a practitioner-informed perspective to her work, empowering future educators through innovative teaching, impactful research, and national service to the field. 

Dr. Adams serves as Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.  

Adams engages in guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator opportunities regularly. She has conducted All State and regional honor choirs in Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin. She has also presented at state practitioner conferences in Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Florida, Missouri, and Texas as well as at national ACDA and NAfME conventions. Her articles focused on research-based strategies for practitioners have been published in Music Educators Journal, Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, Florida Music Director, and Choral Journal.  

Adams’s research has been published in leading journals in the field including Journal of Research in Music Education, Journal of Music Teacher Education, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, and International Journal of Research in Choral Singing. Her research interests include music teacher education, teacher identity construction, and implicit theories of musical ability. In addition to her publications, she has presented on these topics at regional, national, and international conferences. Adams currently serves as chair of the Learning and Development SRIG through NAfME and as a member of the editorial board for Update: Applications of Research in Music Education.   

Prior to her appointment at UNCG, Dr. Adams served on the faculty of the University of Missouri and Florida State University, where she was awarded the Outstanding Teaching in the Major (Undergraduate) award in 2023. She holds a PhD in Music Education from the University of North Texas. Prior to her work in higher education, Dr. Adams taught middle school choir in Knob Noster, MO, where she was named Teacher of the Year in 2015.