Mara E. Culp earned a PhD and an MME from Penn State, and a BME from Siena Heights University. She has also completed Kodály (Level I), Orff (Levels I and II), and Music Together^® Teacher Training, and earned a microcredential in “Inclusive Teaching for Equitable Learning” from the Association of College and University Educators. Prior to joining Eastman’s faculty in 2017, she served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Education at Ithaca College.

Over her career, she has taught general, choral, and instrumental music and worked with or facilitated music experiences for learners of nearly all ages, from infancy through adulthood, and held a music teaching certificate (Michigan) for nearly 20 years. At Eastman, she teaches undergraduate (Early Childhood Music, Student Teaching Seminar) and graduate (History and Philosophy of Music Education Seminar, Curriculum Seminar) coursework, and co-coordinates an Early Childhood Music Lab, which she co-founded through a collaboration with the Eastman Community Music School in 2024. She has also taught Elementary General Music Methods, Elementary and Middle School Choral Methods, and Classroom Instruments courses, as well as courses pertaining to teaching music to students who receive special education and related services.

Her scholarly interests include music and communication, music for students who receive special education and related services, interprofessional collaboration, intersectionality, music for young learners, and choral music. Her dissertation comprised three studies examining the relationship between music aptitude and phonological awareness in elementary children, including children with speech sound disorders. Her co-edited book, Toward Equity in School Music: Ideas for Practice in Music Teacher Education, currently under contract with Oxford University Press, is expected to be released in 2026. Her solo and co-authored work also appears in Journal of Research in Music Education, Journal of Voice, 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–invited reviews appear in Kodály Envoy, Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, and Music Education Research.

She is also an active presenter and speaker, frequently working as a part of interdisciplinary teams that have included speech-language pathologists, music therapists, and physicians, and has shared her work 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.

She serves on 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’s (CEC) Division on Visual and Performing Arts, and served as Vice President for Convention Programming for the ECMMA 2021 Biennial International Convention.