TERREL J. STOWERS

FOUNDER/CEO

Terrel J. Stowers, Founder and CEO of Cobra Performing Arts, Inc., is a proud product of Bergen County, New Jersey. His professional journey began at Bethune-Cookman University, where he studied in the Music Department. He later served as an Assistant Marching Band Director at Irvington High School in New Jersey.

Terrel has held leadership positions across music education, youth development, and afterschool programming, including Program Director at the Providence YMCA in Rhode Island. He also served as a keynote speaker at the Keys to Quality Conference for school-age child care professionals.

After moving to Yonkers, New York, Terrel became Community Band Director for the Yonkers YMCA Youth Corps and Senior Director of the Nepperhan Community Youth Corps. After working with more than 400 young people, he founded Cobra Performing Arts, Inc. in 2008, with the Marching Cobras of New York as its first program.

Under his leadership, Cobra students have traveled internationally to London and France and performed through collaborations involving the NFL, NHL, NBA, and recording artist Rihanna. In 2015, the Marching Cobras appeared in the Academy Award-winning film Birdman. Terrel collaborated with the film’s production team on the band’s role and attended the Academy Awards in Los Angeles.

With more than 22 years of experience, Terrel continues to create performing-arts, college-exposure, leadership, and career-development opportunities for young people across Yonkers, Mount Vernon, Harlem, the Bronx, and the greater New York City area.