Actor, writer, activist, arts educator, motivator, storyteller, Cornelius is living "Life" out loud and turning pain into art.  

He is a native of Richmond, VA.  He attended the Mary Munford Elementary School, Thomas H. Henderson Middle School, and completed his freshman year at the George Wythe High School Magnet Program for the Arts.  While attending grade school in Richmond he was very active in the drama club, choir, and other extracurricular activities.

In 1992 Cornelius auditioned and was accepted to study vocal music at The Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC.  While attending Ellington he became actively involved with The Duke Ellington Show Choir, Concert Choir, and the Teen Musical Theater Company.  He had the opportunity of performing at The White House for former President Bill Clinton; The World Earth Day Celebration with Kenny Loggins; and the 1994 Presidential Inauguration at The Washington Monument.  Cornelius has also shared the stage and accompanied such artists as Anita Baker, Stevie Wonder, and the late Ray Charles.

He then ventured on to pursue a higher education in theater and music at Syracuse University and the University of The Arts in Philadelphia, PA.

Shortly after receiving is BFA from The University of the Arts, Cornelius landed his first professional gig with The National tour of Smokey Joe’s Café, which he would later tour to Seoul, Korea alongside Broadway vets BJ Crosby and Ken Ard.  After his yearlong stint with Smokey Joe’s Café he toured regionally with shows such as A Chorus Line, The Wiz, and Big River.

In 2001, he landed his first Broadway show, Thou Shalt Not, under the direction of Broadway’s famed director/choreographer Susan Stroman and native New Orleans’s music icon Harry Connick, Jr. Shortly before the closing of Thou Shalt Not, Cornelius was offered a position on the First National tour of Disney’s The Lion King.   After touring the country for two years, Cornelius was invited to join the Broadway Cast of Disney’s The Lion King.  On Broadway, Cornelius had the opportunity of performing the role of adult Simba at various performances while also stepping into other roles in the show.  In 2006 he was featured on NBC's Law & Order: SVU, under the direction of Eriq La Salle(ER).

Cornelius has proven himself a lover for humanity and peace.  In February of 2006, he spent two weeks in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil with Cross Cultural Solutions.  In Salvador he volunteered at CAASAH, a local hospital for infants, toddlers, teens, and adults that are infected with HIV. He also divides his time in NYC doing charitable work for organizations such as Friends in Deed(a crisis center for people with life-threatening illness), Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, GMHC, and he participated in the 2008 Braking The Cycle AIDS Ride, which is the largest  annual fundraiser for the Gay and Lesbian Center of NYC.

Currently he serves as a resident artist educator for Opening Act New York.  He’s also a Masters of Arts Candidate at New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Studies, where his concentration is Dramatic Writing and Social Theater (Theater of the Oppressed).  In addition he is the creator/producer/writer of the autobiographical one-man show FlagBoy, which earned him a 2008 Midtown International Theater Festival Nomination for Outstanding Performance in a Solo-Show, voted "Best of The Fest" by DC Theatre Scene at the 2009 Capital Fringe Festival, and was featured in August 2009 on National Public Radio (NPR).

Embracing all of who he is, in his personal works, Cornelius speaks openly about being gay and being poz.