Dr Kat Kelly
Dr. Kat Kelly is the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) testing coordinator at Wright Music Academy/WMA. She is a piano instructor at WMA. Dr. Kelly also teaches the ensemble classes and the Mommy/Daddy and Me classes at WMA.
She is the pianist for the Maydell Jenks Elementary Jazzy Jags Choir since 2023. Dr. Kelly performed with the choir at the 2025 Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) state convention in February in San Antonio. The Jazzy Jags were one of five Texas elementary schools chosen to perform at the 2025 TMEA Convention.
Dr. Kelly is involved in the local community in Katy. She is on the executive PTA board at Jenks Elementary. Dr. Kelly is also on the Jenks Elementary Campus Advisory committee. She is a mentor for the Katy ISD Keys Mentoring program. Dr. Kelly volunteers at Jenks Elementary as a homeroom parent and enjoys helping out with various school events. She also teaches Junior Achievement every year. Dr. Kelly was Jenks Elementary Volunteer of the Month in December of 2023. She is organizing the fall and spring music themed assemblies at Jenks Elementary this school year. Dr. Kelly was nominated by the school principal to be part of the 2024-2025 Leadership Class Katy ISD and the class graduated in May. She also served on two Katy ISD textbook selection committees, a junior high science textbook and a preK curriculum.
Dr. Kelly received her Master of Music degree and Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California. She was a teaching assistant at USC during her DMA studies and taught group piano classes and private piano lessons.
Dr. Kelly taught at a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles for eight years. She taught piano performance major students as well as piano classes and piano literature. She coached various ensembles such as piano ensembles, chamber music groups and accompanying. Many of her students have gone on to become successful music teachers. One of Dr. Kelly’s former college students is a band director who was named Louisiana State’s Middle School Teacher of the Year in 2023 and was a finalist for the Grammy Music Educator of the Year award in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Dr. Kelly serves as a board member for the Katy Music Teachers Association (KMTA) where she is the social media and publicity chair. She was chosen as the KMTA Teacher of the Year in 2022. One of Dr. Kelly’s young pre-college students received a Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) National Gold Medal for the highest mark in the country in their grade level exam.
Dr. Kelly’s teaching philosophy is to develop piano players for life that love music. She gives her students the tools to enjoy music and play piano long term, even when the students move away for college and beyond. Her specialty is teaching kids how to learn piano effectively and practice efficiently.