Mara Kochendörfer learned to play the cello at the age of seven and, after studying classical cello in Weimar and Lyon, initially had jobs throughout Germany in various orchestras (Weimar, Wiesbaden, Mainz, Stuttgart, Ulm) until the spark ignited her own creative approach to music. A master class for jazz cello and subsequent studies at the University of Linz for jazz improvisation opened up new possibilities of musical expression for her. She took private advanced training with non-classical cellists such as Tina Guo, Stephan Braun, Susanne Paul, Yaniel Matos, Mike Block, Jeremy Harman and has been writing her own music ever since. Solo performances have taken the singer-songwriter-cellist to venues such as the WDR Rundfunksaal, Kurhaus Wiesbaden, Capitol Theater Offenbach, Wave-Gotik Festival Leipzig, Coron-Arts-Festival Wiesbaden and as opening act for Alice Merton on the Zugspitze. MARA has appeared on ZDF-Fernsehgarten with Alex Christensen, The Dark Tenor and the Queenz of Piano, played in Michael Bublé's stage orchestra in 2019 and 2023 and performed with "La Finesse" and the TV-Total band "Heavytones".