Meet our directors

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Karen Kalafatas (aka Karen K) is a singer, songwriter, wife, mother, sister, daughter, changemaker and artist-preneuer living in North Carolina’s Piedmont.

A former musical theater actress in New York City, Karen is best known for her enchanting voice, award-winning songs, and captivating performances. As founder of the nationally acclaimed tot-rock group Karen K & the Jitterbugs she is best known for her work in the family music industry. Called a “must see act” by the Boston Globe, and “what Taylor Swift would sound like if she had a second grader who wanted to hang with Mom,” by the Huffington Post, Karen has lit up hundreds of stages across the country and has been featured in multiple media outlets including The New York Times, Broadway World,  PBS and CBS New York.  

A stalwart leader committed to providing meaningful arts access to all children, Karen is the creator and executive producer of Kids Really Rock™, the largest free family music festival in the country. Held in Boston, Massachusetts, the event attracts 10,000 people annually. Karen is also a co-founder of Family Music Forward, whose aim is to dismantle systemic racism and amplify Black voices in the family music industry.

Karen has written and produced five musicals, released four original albums and performed for thousands of audience members big and small across the country and world. Her new single “for grown ups," February Strong, a song of hope, is a reflection of a promising artistic evolution, and a return to her southern roots. Karen gratefully spends nearly every pandemic moment with her husband John, daughter Rebecca and dog, Hewey in a little house with too many guitars in Chapel Hill.

Grammy® Nominated producer and Billboard #1 recording artist Aaron Nigel Smith is a transformative force in music, education, and humanitarian work. His exceptional musical journey began at age 11 with The American Boychoir, performing at world-renowned venues including Carnegie Hall and Westminster Abbey. After graduating from Interlochen Arts Academy, he pursued advanced studies in voice performance and music education at Manhattan School of Music, USC, and Marygrove College. 

Smith's educational impact began in 2002 with the founding of FUNdamentals of Music & Movement, pioneering an innovative preschool music curriculum that expanded nationally before its acquisition by RockStarts in 2012. His educational excellence earned him recognition on prestigious teaching artist rosters and culminated in his selection as the 2013 Sunburst Teaching Artist of the Year. 

As a recording artist, Smith's impressive catalog includes 11 acclaimed albums, with his 2021 release "All One Tribe" receiving a Grammy nomination and his 2018 "In Our America" debuting at #1 on Billboard's reggae charts. His notable collaborations include producing Ziggy Marley's youth-centered tribute celebrating Bob Marley's 70th birthday and "B is for Bob," the first Bob Marley album created specifically for children. His original works have garnered Parents' Choice Awards and national media recognition, while his compositional talents were showcased on the Emmy Award-winning PBS Kids show "Between the Lions." 

Together with his wife Diedre, Smith founded the non-profit 1 World Chorus, empowering over 10,000 young people across three continents through music and the arts. The organization's debut album earned critical acclaim and national recognition as one of the year's best children's releases. Smith further expanded his impact through the Rox in Sox Children's Music & Book Festival, a free charity event that has distributed thousands of essential items to youth internationally. 

In 2014, Smith co-created the One Love Youth Camp in Jamaica with Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream and The Bob Marley Foundation, fostering creativity as a tool for youth empowerment. His contributions have been recognized with numerous awards, including the Magic Penny Lifetime Achievement Award from the Children's Music Network (2022). 

A Recording Academy member since 2005 and proud endorser of Martin Guitars and Remo drums, Smith currently builds education and community programs at The Patricia Reser Center for the Arts while continuing his lifelong mission to promote peace by connecting communities through the transformative power of music. 

Diedre Smith is a distinguished dancer and choreographer whose career spans performance, education, and advocacy. She received her formal training at the prestigious School of Ballet West and Interlochen Arts Academy before furthering her studies at the José Limón Foundation in New York. Smith earned her BFA from The Boston Conservatory, where she was recognized with the Ambrose Scholarship for Outstanding Choreography. 

Her performance career includes notable work with the Ballet de Monte Carlo, where she performed and assisted in reconstructing historical works by dance luminaries Doris Humphrey and José Limón, including Limón's celebrated "There is a Time." After relocating to Los Angeles, Smith continued her performance career with Pennington Dance Group while raising her family. 

In 2002, Smith co-founded "FUNdamentals of Music and Movement" with her husband, Aaron Nigel Smith, developing an innovative approach to music and dance education for children aged 3 months to 6 years. Her commitment to arts education extends to her role as Program Director for 1 World Chorus and her work as Costume Supervisor and Executive Assistant to Carole Valleskey at California Dance Institute. 

Today, Smith serves as the Managing Director of Dance for Parkinson's Oregon, a licensed affiliate of Dance for PD®, where she continues to advocate for the transformative power of movement and music in people's lives. 

  For the last twenty years, Billy Miller has been making motion media, writing and producing hundreds of television shows broadcast on ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and ESPN as well as commercials for Nike and long-form documentaries for Red Bull. His experience in all phases of production includes being crewed on an Emmy-award-winning Olympic broadcast, camera for The Oprah Winfrey Show, field audio recording for a BBC documentary and sold-out festival screenings at Sundance, XDance, New York Surf Film and the Banff Mountain Film. 

Billy has been bringing that moviemaking experience to hundreds of diverse students through non-profit youth programs like Caldera, ChickTech and The Hollywood Theatre. Working mainly with middle-schoolers, Billy has taught at schools all over Portland and Central Oregon, including Arleta, Boise-Eliot, Faubion, da Vinci Arts, Robert Gray and Portland State University. His student’s films have played in the NW Filmmaker’s Festival, Bend Film and The Silent Film Festival, winning an audience award.

Billy is the cofounder of LiveLabs, a live-production, experiential learning collective using moviemaking to establish team-building and pro-social awareness. LiveLabs workshops bring diverse groups together to use TV technology to capture live and pre-recorded performance. Billy is a producer of "The Big Up Show," teaching peace and unity to young people through the power of music while helping them use their own unique voice.