It has been Cora Lee’s lifelong goal to nurture music students and ignite the spark of the music bug so that music can become a cherished part of their lives. She studied piano with Beth Miller Harrod from Julliard, Rio Nardi (Conservatorio de Firenze, Italy), and Claude Gonvierre of Long Island. Cora Lee’ s piano students have received scholarships to the Conservatory at Ithaca College, to prestigious piano camps as Vermont’s Sonatina and Piano Institute of Ithaca. Her students have placed in the Marriott Piano Competition, Lyons’ Music Competiton, NVMTA’s Healy/Ford Competition and the National Piano Guild Auditions. She remains the chairperson for National Piano Guild Auditions, which CHAW hosts. She is the chairperson for the popular Judged Recitals of the Northern Virginia Music Teachers Ass. She is a past chairperson of the CHAW music department.

Piano students, as well as Cora Lee’s Orff music students, are given many opportunities to perform. Students under her tutelage have performed at state and national conferences including the Kennedy Center, Schlesinger Theatre, Celebrate our Rising Stars-Leaving No Child Behind, Saturday Morning at Helen Hayes Theatre, our government’s OPM and many performances at CHAW.

Cora Lee retired as General Music in Arlington County Schools, DC Public Schools at John Eaton and the Middleburg Community Charter School. Awards given to Ms. Khambatta include the 2005 Betty Kreiger Music Teacher of the Year, the 2007 Tenth Annual Elizabeth Campbell Award and the 2015 Music Teacher of Distinction from MusicLink. She earned a Liberal Arts degree with piano performance focus from Grinnell College with a third year in Florence Italy studying at the Conservatorio di Firenze with Rio Nardi, a Master of Education from Syracuse University and completed course work for a Masters in Child Drama from the University of Maryland, and a Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Northern Colorado. Cora Lee received her Orff Schulwerk training in Colorado and George Mason University.