Coramae Neely, director of orchestras
Coramae Neely, a native of Blythewood, SC, began playing the cello through 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 University of North Carolina School of the Arts where she studied with Marcy Rosen and Robert Marsh, a Master of Music in Cello Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory, where she studied with Bonnie Hampton and Sadao Harada and finally a Master of Science in Music Education from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.
She has toured France and Italy with such groups as the Charleston Pro Musica, and the International Music Program and has participated in the French Woods Summer Festival (as a teacher and performer), NCSA summer festival in Manteo, NC, Killington Arts Festival, Piccolo Spoleto, Brevard Music Festival, and the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts.
Cora has dedicated herself to education and community out-reach programs. She is currently on faculty at AFA, a program whose mission is to “enrich the lives of young people through music”. She was a founding member of the Open Dream Ensemble, a collaborative performing arts company dedicated to arts-in-education programs in the public schools of North Carolina. She was also on faculty at the Palmetto Center for the Arts, a magnet program for artistically gifted high school students in South Carolina and was an adjunct cello professor at Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC. She is currently the Director of Orchestras at Strack Intermediate School in Klein ISD.
She has toured France and Italy with such groups as the Charleston Pro Musica, and the International Music Program and has participated in the French Woods Summer Festival (as a teacher and performer), NCSA summer festival in Manteo, NC, Killington Arts Festival, Piccolo Spoleto, Brevard Music Festival, and the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts.
Cora has dedicated herself to education and community out-reach programs. She is currently on faculty at AFA, a program whose mission is to “enrich the lives of young people through music”. She was a founding member of the Open Dream Ensemble, a collaborative performing arts company dedicated to arts-in-education programs in the public schools of North Carolina. She was also on faculty at the Palmetto Center for the Arts, a magnet program for artistically gifted high school students in South Carolina and was an adjunct cello professor at Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC. She is currently the Director of Orchestras at Strack Intermediate School in Klein ISD.
Roechelle Torres, Assistant DIRECTOR OF ORCHESTRAS
Roechelle Torres is a Sam Houston State University graduate with a BM degree in music education with an emphasis on strings. She grew up in Klein ISD and is an alumni of Klein Forest High School. She began taking piano lessons at a young age with the Suzuki method. In fifth grade, she joined the fifth grade strings program where she began learning cello. During middle school, she started studying harp all the way through her high school years. Her mentors that she has studied with and guided her includes Dr. Daniel Saenz, Dr. Jacob Sustaita, Mrs. Cathy Fishburn, Mrs. Kaylyn Sharp, and Ms. Marcelle Martin.
During her time in college, Ms. Torres helped lead and teach in the Huntsville Youth Orchestra where young students from around the area would come and participate in larger ensembles as well as private lessons. She worked with students of all playing abilities that ages ranged from 4 to 17. During the fall of 2019, Ms. Torres was the long term orchestra substitute at Doerre Intermediate where she taught full time and organized and ran concerts as well as other orchestra events.
Ms. Torres is a member of TMEA and TODA. In her free time she enjoys reading and hanging out with her puppy, Hollie.
During her time in college, Ms. Torres helped lead and teach in the Huntsville Youth Orchestra where young students from around the area would come and participate in larger ensembles as well as private lessons. She worked with students of all playing abilities that ages ranged from 4 to 17. During the fall of 2019, Ms. Torres was the long term orchestra substitute at Doerre Intermediate where she taught full time and organized and ran concerts as well as other orchestra events.
Ms. Torres is a member of TMEA and TODA. In her free time she enjoys reading and hanging out with her puppy, Hollie.