Kai Simone has over twenty-five years experience as a director, producer, musician, performing artist, radio personality, and teacher. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theater Directing and Design from the University of Illinois-Chicago, with coursework in music theory, composition and voice technique. Kai taught arts integration classes at Columbia College in Chicago and produced several plays, including A Raisin in the Sun, The Wiz, Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters, Aesop & the Fabulous Fable Sisters and an original Kwanzaa musical, Imani and the Magic Drum.

In Milwaukee, Kai and musical director Emmanuel Turner founded Skai Academy of the Performing Arts in 2012, and have reached over 3,000 students through workshops and performances providing an opportunity for aspiring youth from various backgrounds and abilities to engage in an intense yet fun learning experience through coaching and performances and created the Skai Stage Band, a youth fusion/cover band composed of young vocalists and instrumentalists, 10-18 years old, from various cultural backgrounds, well known for its diverse musical style in both Milwaukee and Madison.

Currently, Kai teaches her signature Skai Music programs to schools and community centers throughout the Milwaukee metro area and also has a partnership with Arts@Large, where she delivers early childhood music and the Skai Music Arts program. She also composes music lyrics for the Discover Music, Discover Life, Inc music education curriculum in Chicago.