Cora Dunham began her musical journey at Kashmere High School under senior William Portis and at church under Mamie L. Johnson. She played in the marching and concert bands and by the 11th grade moved on to play the drum set. After graduating as valedictorian, Cora received her Bachelor of Science Degree at Howard University.
After achieving the honor of becoming the first female section leader of Howard's Thunder Machine marching drum section, she went on to win 1st Place against 5,000 drummers in Guitar Center's 2002 Annual National Drum-Off . This crowned her as the first female to make it to the national level, and earned her the title of the Nation's Best Amateur Drummer.
Cora and her husband, Joshua, played as the dynamic rhythm section for 5+ years with international pop artist, Prince, and can be heard on the Te Amo Corazon, 3121, Planet Earth, and LotusFlow3r albums. Her roster of artists include, but are not limited to, Goapele, P!nk, Zac Harmon, Frank McComb, IL Divo, Phil Upchurch, Maceo Parker, and Ledisi.
Cora now drums for BET's Annual Black Girls Rock! Awards and has historically graced the Super Bowl Half-Time Show with both, Prince (XLI) & Beyonce (XLI). She has played with Beyonce for 2 1/2 years, where she also served as bandleader.
Coleman continues to perform across the globe, but for the past years she has spent more time in her hometown carving out a second career: owner of a construction company. Cora Coleman launched Building Simple. It's a company that designs modular shipping crates for living and work space.... |