Mara E. Culp earned a PhD and a Master’s in Music Education from Penn State and a Bachelor’s in Music Education from Siena Heights University. Over the course of her career, she has taught general, choral, and instrumental music and worked with P-12 students. She has also completed Kodály (Level I), Orff (Levels I and II), and Music Together^® Teacher Training. During the 2016-2017 academic year, she served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Education, Vocal General at Ithaca College. A lifelong learner, she continues to hold an active music teaching certificate (Michigan) and has earned a microcredential in “Inclusive Teaching for Equitable Learning” from the Association of College and University Educators.

She teaches undergraduate (Early Childhood Music, Elementary and Middle School Choral Methods, Student Teaching Seminar) and graduate (History and Philosophy of Music Education Seminar, Curriculum Seminar) coursework. She has also taught Elementary General Music Methods courses, as well as courses pertaining to teaching music to students with special education needs at Penn State and Ithaca College. She serves as a member of the editorial committee of Music Educators Journal and as Chair of the New York State School Music Association’s (NYSSMA) Research Committee. She also serves as President for Eastman’s Pi Kappa Lambda Chapter (Beta Pi) and as Chair for the University of Rochester’s Academic Affairs Committee of the Faculty Senate. Formerly, she advised Eastman’s C-NAfME chapter, served as Membership Committee Co-Chair (West) for the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)’s Division on Visual and Performing Arts (DARTS), and served as Vice President for Convention Programming for the Early Childhood Music and Movement Association (ECMMA) 2021 Biennial International Convention.

Her scholarly and research interests include music and communication, music education for students who receive special education and related services, interprofessional collaboration, intersectionality, elementary general music education, and choral music. She was named a finalist for the 2015 Outstanding Emerging Researcher Award by the Center for Music Education Research. Her dissertation was comprised of three studies examining the relationship between music aptitude and phonological awareness in elementary children, including children with speech sound disorders. Her work has been published in Journal of Research in Music Education, Music Educators Journal, Journal of Music Teacher Education, International Journal of Music in Early Childhood, Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, Music Therapy Perspectives, Journal of General Music Education (formerly, General Music Today), Choral Journal, The Orff Echo, Teaching Music, The ASHA Leader, School Music News (NYSSMA), and on NAfME’s Music in a Minuet blog. Her invited reviews have been published in Kodály Envoy, Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, and Music Education Research. Her work has also been reprinted in state music educator publications, including Kansas, Oregon, Tennessee, Rhode Island, Utah, and Wyoming. Her co-edited book, Toward Equity in School Music: Ideas for Practice in Music Teacher Education, is under contract with Oxford University Press.

She is also an active presenter and speaker, frequently working as a part of interdisciplinary teams. She has shared her original work with audiences in and outside music education, both domestically and internationally. Notable conferences in music education and the arts include the International Society for Music Education (ISME) Biennial World Conference; National Association for Music Education (NAfME) National Conference; Society for Music Teacher Education (SMTE) Biennial Symposium; Early Childhood Music and Movement Association (ECMMA) Biennial International Convention; Desert Skies Symposium for Research in Music Education; Suncoast Music Education Research Symposium; VSA Intersections: Arts and Special Education Conference; ABLE Assembly: Arts Better the Lives of Everyone; Instrumental Music Teacher Educators (IMTE) Biennial Colloquium for Instrumental Music Teacher Educators; and American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Eastern Region Conference. Notable conferences outside music education include the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) National Convention; American Laryngological Association (ALA) Annual Meeting; Interdisciplinary Society for Quantitative Research in Music and Medicine (ISQRMM) Biennial International Conference; and American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) National Conference. She is frequently invited to speak on inclusive and/or interdisciplinary topics and has acted as an invited speaker/presenter for classes in the Communication Sciences and Disorders.