Michelle Kardos, DMA, MT-BC, CAGO is the newly appointed Director of Education for the American Guild of Organists. Alongside this, she is the Assistant Organist at Pasadena Presbyterian Church. She obtained her Doctor of Musical Arts in Sacred Music at the University of Southern California, Master of Music in Sacred Music at Duquesne University, and Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy along with the Sacred Music Certificate, Pastoral Ministry Certificate, and psychology minor at Seton Hill University.

Through the involvement of her local chapter, Michelle has been a member of the American Guild of Organists (AGO) since 2014. From 2018-2021, she served as the Secretary for the AGO Greensburg Chapter. From 2021-2024, she served on the AGO Committee for Young Organists and the AGO Task Force for Gender Equity. Michelle has received both her Service Playing and Colleague Certification from the AGO. She is also a member of the Society of Women Organists (SWO), American Music Therapy Association (AMTA), Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), and Association for Popular Music Education (APME).

When studying at Seton Hill University, she studied organ with Mr. Edgar Highberger and piano with Mr. Edward Kuhn. During her studies, Michelle was named the Presser Scholar, based on her merit and achievement in the music program, and was accepted into the International Psychology Honor Society, Psi Chi. While she obtained her Master of Music in Sacred Music at Duquesne University, she studied organ with Dr. Ann Labounsky and was accepted into the National Music Honor Society, Pi Kappa Lambda.

At graduation, she was presented with the Jean Langlais Award, awarded to a graduating organ student with the highest academic standing in Sacred Music. At the University of Southern California, she studied organ with Prof. Cherry Rhodes and choral conducting with Dr. Tram Sparks. There she was given the Thornton Community Engagement Program Award and was again accepted into Pi Kappa Lambda.