Charleene Closshey

Closshey was raised in Plant City, Florida, and started playing piano and reading music at age 2. She spent much of her childhood learning to play various instruments, including the flute, clarinet, harp, and viola.

Closshey graduated valedictorian of her high school class at Lois Cowles Harrison Center for the Visual and Performing Arts in Lakeland, Florida, in 1999, where she was president of the National Honor Society and her senior class. She subsequently obtained a Bachelor of Science degree with summa cum laude honors and concentrations in both marketing management and exercise science from Florida Southern College in 2002. She continued her artistic education in extension courses through the Juilliard School, Circle in the Square Theatre School, New York University, and Berklee College of Music.