This content is from Cori's May 2023 Newsletter. If you would like to receive her newsletters in your inbox, click to subscribe here.

Happy May!

April showers bring...May flowers! We are experiencing glorious sunshine and blooming flowers in this beautiful Pacific Northwest spring...and what better way to complement the beauty of God's creation than an offering of music?

My May is full of music! I recently played for one of my daughters at the local Solo and Ensemble festival. It was her first time performing…

This content is from Cori's March-April 2023 Newsletter. If you would like to receive her newsletters in your inbox, click to subscribe here.

Spring Renewal

"Like Adam, we have all lost Paradise;
and yet we carry Paradise around inside of us
in the form of a longing for, almost a memory of,
a blessedness that is no more,
or the dream of blessedness that may someday be again."

Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat
 

It's Spring! Or...is it? In the grand Pacific Northwest, we have been experiencing sun, rain,…

This content is from Cori's February 2023 Newsletter. If you would like to receive her newsletters in your inbox, click to subscribe here.

Refreshed

"The mountains are calling and I must go." John Muir

Well, maybe not the mountains exactly, but the redwoods! My family and I spent last week in the bay area enjoying a rental house nestled in the California redwoods. Beautiful homes peek out amongst these awe-inspiring trees. Just a short 10-minute walk "through the neighborhood" brought my girls and I to a…

This content is from Cori's January 2023 Newsletter. If you would like to receive her newsletters in your inbox, click to subscribe here.

The Piano: A History in 100 Pieces 

Pianist-writer Susan Tomes has put together a wonderful compilation of mini-essays on 100 pieces written for piano in her newest book. Though not a strictly "solo piano" list, each piece that she highlights contains writing that makes the piano an important figure in the composition - either as "star" performer, as in a piano concerto…

This content is from Cori's December 2022 Newsletter. If you would like to receive her newsletters in your inbox, click to subscribe here.

Merry Christmas!

Twelve days left until the new year, twelve musical gifts for your enjoyment! 

This is my second newsletter of 2022 - I apologize for being absent for so long! I have packed this newsletter full of musical gifts that I hope you will enjoy as much as I have! My year has been full on the home front. As our girls get older, their activities require more…

“Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war.” Do you remember the words of this hymn? Do they make you think of a choral festival? The word “soldiers” probably does not bring to mind images of singing teenagers, but this is exactly the kind of work that was going on at the ACCS Choral Festival this year. 

Dr. David Erb, Fellow of Music at New Saint Andrews College, led the charge with countless others from NSA and The Oaks Classical Christian Academy, as well as the music directors from eleven area…

This content is from Cori's January 2022 Newsletter. If you would like to receive her newsletters in your inbox, click to subscribe here.

Getting Back in Shape

New Year, new habits! I have started to incorporate some daily habits on my way back to physical and musical shape! Moving a little more each day: tracking steps with a step counter, a couple days a week of weight/resistance training, getting to the piano daily for at least a ten minute read…(which tends to turn into much more!) 

Bach always seems…

This content is from Cori's Fall 2021 Newsletter. If you would like to receive her newsletters in your inbox, click to subscribe here.

Thanks-Seasoning

I have been woefully absent from this newsletter of late. I haven't forgotten about you - in fact, I think of you often and miss making music with and for you! This fall season has been an incredibly busy, creative one for me, albeit mostly void of music-making. 

While on hiatus from my community choir role and taking a backseat to worship leading at church…

This content is from Cori's Summer 2021 Newsletter. If you would like to receive her newsletters in your inbox, click to subscribe here.

Culture Shapers

Happy Summer! I have been thinking of the many conversations going on these days about identity, history, truth, and morality. There is so much ugliness and division happening in and amongst it all. It has made me think about the role musicians and mothers have as Culture Shapers in little and big ways. 

Mothers have a unique…

This content is from Cori's May 2021 Newsletter. If you would like to receive her newsletters in your inbox, click to subscribe here.

Performing In-Person Again 

Baby steps! I will be performing in-person this month at my kids' school arts' festival! It will be an outdoor setup with various stages and brief "acts," but it's a start! It seems appropriate to contribute to the theme of "hymns" as we give thanks to God for His provision and protection over the last year. I will be playing a few jazz…