Cora Bigwood

Lecturer

Student Teaching Supervisor

Cora M. Bigwood taught music to children in a public school setting for 35 years and in private schools for 3 years. She is now a Lecturer for the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston for the course Music for Children, and is a University Supervisor for Student Interns in an elementary music placement. Cora is a Faculty Sponsor for the student run organizations: Dhun A Capella, UH’s South Asian vocal ensemble and for Cougar Tutors.   

She has taught Orff Teacher Training Courses at TAMU Kingsville, the U. of Texas at Brownsville, U. of Houston, Northwestern Univ. in Natchitoches, LA, U. of Nebraska and Mississippi College, Aldine ISD, and Edinburg CISD in Edinburg, TX. She presented 4 sessions for the AOSA Louisville Conference and has served on the national board of the American Orff Schulwerk Assoc. as a Region III Representative (TX, OK, NE, AR, KS, LA, MO).  

She has also presented clinics at the Texas Music Educators Assoc. (TMEA) Conference/Clinic as well as having a student ensemble, student traditional dance demonstration group, her Contra Dance band perform. She was also a clinician for the Texas Choral Directors Assoc. Cora has presented staff development workshops for Texas school districts as well as for Texas, Louisiana and Virginia Orff Chapters and Matamoras Conservatory in Matamoras, Mexico.   

Cora has served on the Executive Board for TMEA as Vice President of the Elementary Division and Elementary State Chairperson. These responsibilities included organizing the elem. division’s portion of the convention: contacting clinicians, selecting topics, forming committees to select choirs & ensembles from submitted entries; overseeing the duties of elem. region chairs; and writing a monthly column for the Southwestern Musician.  

During her spare time she likes to attend concerts of many varieties as well as perform. Cora has performed in the Clear Lake Symphony, the Pasadena Philharmonic and Baytown Symphony and in various recorder consorts. She has produced an educational dance CD Permanent Wave with her contra dance band of the same name and co-authored the textbook Engaging Children with Music – A Handbook for Elementary Teachers Second Edition is published by Kendall-Hunt 2019. She is a flute instructor for Clear Creek ISD. 

Cora gave a pre-concert lecture and guided student performance on “The Other Leg of Orff’s Legacy” at the Shepherd School of Music in conjunction with Houston Masterworks Chorus May 15, 2017 production of Carmina Burana. 

Her degrees are a BM Education from University of Houston (UH); MM Education from New England Conservatory (NEC); Orff Certification – NEC; Kodaly Certification – UH; Mid-Management as well as Supervisor Certification from UH. 

She resides in League City, TX with her husband.