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

Happy Fall Y'all!

My October is packed with volleyball games, fall school events, and music! I am enjoying my new piano students, and am looking forward to performing at a private house concert tomorrow and a Hispanic Heritage Concert a week from Saturday. I am sure you are also finding it hard to find much "down time" but I hope you will squeeze some time in to enjoy music,…

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

Happy “New” Year!

As summer draws to a close, those of us with school-age children gear up for a new year. Stores have been anticipating this for the last two months, displaying school supplies just a week or two after school got out for the summer! We, however, didn't "bite" at the first sales, but just now are getting around to preparing for the return to school with its…

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

Happy 4th of July!

As we celebrate the birth of our country, it is a great time to reflect on the many freedoms we enjoy because of the sacrifices of so many men and women who came before us. 

During the "pause" of 2020, my friend Seiko Werts helped me to put together a patriotic program for a virtual house concert. Even though we worked in isolation, this remains one of my…

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 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…

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

Solitary Reflections

The choir that I am a part of is working on another virtual concert project for spring. This involves a great deal of solitary work: practicing, viewing rehearsal videos, and recording oneself singing or playing alone. It is a tremendous task that requires courage, stamina, and dedication. It is not unlike the rest of our mid-COVID lives. We are…

This content is from Cori's May 2020 Newsletter. If you would like to receive Cori's monthly newsletters in your inbox, please subscribe here.

A Moment in Time

What strange times we are living in! This “pause” has been, for some, a time for reflection and new projects. For me, it has been more of a shift in how I spend my time. Music has taken a backseat to the more pressing duties of motherhood, which for the past two months have included homeschooling, counseling and entertaining children, and general…

This content is from Cori's February 2020 Newsletter. If you would like to receive Cori's monthly newsletters in your inbox, please subscribe here.

O Love 

On the heels of Valentine's Day, I am preparing for a set of two "love" concerts with Kirkland Choral Society. On Saturday and Sunday, February 22-23, we will give performances of songs celebrating love and community (accompanied by wine and chocolate at each intermission!). Although the main spirit of the program is love for our fellow man, the song…

I am reworking a Bach Toccata I learned a few years back in preparation for my concert with Molly Tomlinson for the October 11th Ladies Musical Club concert. "Toccata" literally means "touched" and refers to the virtuosic nature of the music's fingerwork. Originally conceived for early keyboard instruments such as clavichord, harpsichord, and organ, the toccata is not necessarily a "piano" piece. However, I believe that if Bach were to live in our time, he would use the piano to its fullest extent, most…

Recently I attended a wonderful masterclass at the University of Washington given by British pianist Imogen Cooper. Two graduate students played Beethoven sonatas on a Steinway concert grand in a nice performance hall. I took notes as Ms. Cooper spoke with the musicians afterwards: 

She started out by asking what other Beethoven sonatas the pianists had studied and then, “Have you taken [this sonata] up and dropped it?” Meaning, after you first learned the piece, did you walk away for a period of time…

My debut classical CD, Commonplace Beauty, is now available for purchase through my website! It has been a work of love for the better part of this year, and I want to give you a glimpse of the thinking behind the album. 

FEELS LIKE COMING HOME 

In many ways this album is about coming home. I chose the name, Commonplace Beauty, from something that Charles Ives, an American composer, wrote about his Concord Sonata, and the Alcotts movement in particular. The sonata is a four-movement piece, where each…