Kari graduated from CSU Fresno with a major in Health Science and a minor in Communicative Sciences and Disorders. He also has a B.A. degree in Music from Georgia Southwestern State University and a M. Ed. in Higher Education Leadership (student affairs option) from Valdosta State University.
Kari began marching drum corps with the Blue Knights from Denver, Colorado in 1990 and then began marching with the Blue Devil A corp, where he performed with the corps 1991-1993, 1995&1996.
Kari performed in multiple marching, jazz, and concert ensembles and also performed with Shockwave while at DisneyWorld and then joined the First United States National Tour of Blast in 2002. In the summer of 2003, Blast performed in Japan for approximately 3 months. He finished of the first national tour of Blast in December of 2003.
Some of the groups he has had the opportunity to work with are:
Corona Del Sol High School (Arizona), Clovis West High School (California), Northglenn High School (Colorado)
East Coweta High School Marching Band (Georgia)
Kennesaw Mountain High School Marching Band (Georgia)
Jacksonville State University Marching Southerners
The Glassmen, Cadets of Bergen County, Carolina Crown
Spirit of JSU, Madison Scouts, Arizona Academy of the Arts, Boston Crusaders, and The Concord Blue Devils.