Staff & faculty

Coramae Neely, a native of Blythewood, SC, began playing the cello in the University of South Carolina String Project. After deciding to pursue music as a career, she would go on to receive a Bachelor of Music degree from the North Carolina School of the Arts where she studied with Marcy Rosen and Robert Marsh. She then went on to receive a Master of Music in Cello Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory, where she studied with Bonnie Hampton and Sadao Harada, and a Master of Science in Music Education from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.

Cora has dedicated herself to education and community out-reach programs. She was an inaugural member of the Open Dream Ensemble, a collaborative performing arts company dedicated to arts in education programs and performances.

For over ten years Cora has been an orchestra director in the Texas public schools. First in Cypress Fairbanks ISD and currently in Klein ISD at Strack Intermediate. In addition to her responsibilities at school she maintains an active cello studio where she gets to inspire the next generation of cellists. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her husband Chris and their son, Phillip.

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