Mirna Y. Cabrera holds a M.Mus. in choral conducting from the University of Kansas, where she has directed the World Music Choir since 2005. She was born in Cuba, where she spent her childhood and began studying piano at age 7. Cabrera received her B.Mus.Ed. degree from Loma Linda University in Riverside, California, in 1990. Since then, she has received Level III certification as a specialist in the teaching philosophy of Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály. From 1999 to 2003 she worked with the Austin Children's Choir, the last two years as Artistic Director, and has successfully taught in a variety of settings as a choral director and classroom music specialist for elementary through university. In summer 2005, she attended the intensive choral conducting seminar taught by Péter Erdei at the Kodály Institute in Kecskemét, Hungary. She is an avid collector of Spanish-language folk songs and children's games, and has worked closely in this area with Martha Esquenazi, one of Cuba's leading ethnomusicologists. She has also worked extensively as a piano accompanist and currently accompanies Excalibur, the concert choir at Central Junior High in Lawrence, Kansas.