Cary Cooper is returning to the Franklin Faculty as a full-time music teacher, sharing her singing and songwriting skills with all grade levels. Cary moved to Asheville five years ago from Texas where she was a full time nationally touring singer-songwriter for twelve years. She is a past winner of several prestigious songwriting contests including, The Telluride Troubadour Contest, the Songwriter Showcase at the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival, and the Kerrville New Folk Competition. In 2011 while living in Texas, she was cast on a nationally televised docu-drama about Texas songwriters called Troubadour, TX. Cary spends her summers teaching songwriting at Interlochen Camp for the Arts in Michigan; working with gifted high school songwriters from around the world.
A graduate of Texas Tech University with a degree in Exercise and Sports Sciences, Cary served as Physical Training Instructor for student pilots in the Air Force for three years before returning to school to pursue a teaching degree. She taught first and second grade ESL classes for 4 years before retiring to stay at home to raise her two daughters, Caroline and Hannah. It was during this stay at home stint that she wrote her first song and taught herself to play guitar and ukulele. While touring she served for five years as the Music Teacher for the White Rock Montessori School in Dallas, Texas, where she taught music appreciation, theory, songwriting, and performance. Cary is passionate about helping students to discover their musical “voice”. She balances this passion with her love of performing and can be heard periodically on stages throughout the WNC region. You can check out her music at www.carycooper.com
