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Based on journal entries and ship’s logs, the production follows the physical, spiritual and emotional journeys of Latter-day Saints who left their familiar homelands to travel to the American territory now known as Utah. This acoustic folk version of the production uses indigenous acoustic instruments and follows the experiences of saints aboard ship. Connors and Robinette are joined on stage with the musical talents of Dave and Carla Eskelsen, John Connors, and Tom and Gael Shults. Saints on the Seas will be performed in celebration of the Pioneer Holiday at the Farmington Arts Center, 120 South Main Street in Farmington, UT on July 23, 24 and 25th at 8:00 pm. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door and may be obtained through Farmington City Parks and Recreation, (801)451-0953 or www.farmington.utah.gov. READ NEWS ARTICLES AND AUDIENCE COMMENTS June 2, 2008  Here's the link to a radio interview with the producers of the CD, Man of Honor, a Tribute to Gordon B. Hinckley. My song Stand a Little Taller is on the CD (you'll hear them talk about it). Nancy Hanson and Sam Payne sing the song and John Connors played guitar. Oh, and we sing in the chorus as well. All proceeds from this CD go to the Perpetual Education Fund for the LDS Church, offering educational opportunities for underprivileged church members worldwide. We're honored to be a part of it.Cori
December 11, 2007 From Finland to Broadway. You Would Have Loved This, which received platinum selling status in Finland last year, is now being sung as part of a new off-off-Broadway production that is actually called a workshop (meaning it is a proposed show that is being produced for review and for potential On-Broadway production...producers, etc come to see it in its workshop form). Anyway, I guess it got pretty good reviews and there's a little buzz happening. The show is actually two short Christmas stories, one of them the Gift of the Magi, and the production begins with a half hour of performances of fresh new holiday tunes performed by an ensemble of different actors/singers. You Would Have Loved This is one of the songs, and was noted in the review, as well as the following press release sent out by the show's producer yesterday. For any of you who will be in NYC between now and Dec 22, maybe check out the show. Let me know what you think if you do. I'm really curious!
Happy Holidays!
Cori
WHO SAYS THERE'S NOTHING NEW IN CHRISTMAS SONGS? Other composers represented include Penny Lea, Buzz Smith, Jr., & Bonnie
Miller; Gordy Pratt, Brent Hardesty, Lauren Mayer, John O.A. Pagano; and
Justin Wilde & Doug Konecky.
Tarja Turunen, the Finnish artist whose Christmas album just went platinum, recorded Cori's "You Would Have Loved This" on her first single from the album. Read more in this article on her website . This is the one. If you love gentle folk music and especially enjoy original holiday songs, then Cori Connors' Sleepy Little Town is the one album that you absolutely must purchase this holiday season. As I write this review, I can feel tears pressing behind my eyes; this must be the most warmly-crafted and heartfelt Christmas album I have ever had the privilege to review. Connors is a master singer/songwriter, and her superb pieces tell the important stories that frame almost all of our childhood holiday memories. No matter what our personal experiences have been, many pieces of Sleepy Little Town will fit your particular puzzle. . . read more of this review Jan Hopkins, Staff Writer 16.NOV.04 Davis County Clipper Nov 2004 SALT LAKE CITY — If one has a sense of deja-vu listening to performing songwriter Cori Connors, it may be due to the fact that such big names as Chris LeDoux and Linda Ronstad have performed her songs. Connors will be singing songs from her new album, “Pontiac Rocket,” in a release concert Saturday, Nov. 27, 7:30 p.m. The event is open to the public and will be held at Libby Gardner Hall, Presi-dent’s Circle, University of Utah. Tickets are available at coriconnors.com. Her music is all her own, but is peppered with scenes and emotions familiar to us all, a little like the effect one gets from listening to John Denver’s music. Connors’ name pops up in all sorts of unconnected musical places, not just in the songwriting credits of major country artists like Chris LeDoux and Linda Ronstadt. It’s there next to Kurt Bestor as songwriter in a sweeping orchestral oratorio recorded by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Or-chestra and Choir. And just last week it showed up on the pages of Hal Leonard’s “Christmas Compilation Song- book,” and in Warner Brother’s songbook, “Santa’s Greatest Hits,” piano ar-rangements of Cori Connors’ songs. Ironically, Connors doesn’t play the piano, guitar is her instrument of choice. Sur-prisingly, she doesn’t even read music. “Well, you don’t need to be able to read to tell a story, or to talk,” says Connors. Her turn of phrase and lyric sounds make her music not only a delight to hear, but a treat for the mouth to repeat. Connors started her career winning songwriting contests. She self-produced albums, which almost sell themselves. “Certainly not like wildfire, but enough to pay for itself, and the next one,” said Connors. Then, other artists wanted to sing her songs. Now, Connors’ latest tunes have been recorded, with Connors singing and playing, and with the musical talents of some of the West’s best acoustic artists joining in. Kate McLeod, Dave and Carla Eskelsen, Tom Shults, Michael Dowdle, Theresa Ellis, Clive Romney, Todd Sorensen and Mark Robinette, along with Connors’ daughter Kate and her brother John Hansen. They “catch the energy and the rhythm of the tunes like kids joining in a game of jump rope,” said Connors. All 13 songs on the new CD are original, and most are reminiscent of life growing up in the last days of the past millennium. Connors is receiving critical acclaim from names in the recording industry as well. “Pontiac Rocket is the most moving singer-songwriter CD I’ve ever heard,” said El McMeen, recording artist, arranger and author who received a pre-production copy. “It’s suffused with love, honesty and hope...the images are both tender and powerful, and the singing is so good – a study in how to breathe and phrase.” El sent the CD to Bob Pegritz, recording artist and radio disc jockey at WVUD in Delaware. “I listened to it for the first time and was literally floored,” said Pegritz. “So far my favorite, is “Idaho Wind,” which should only be sung by Cori or John Denver, and since John is with The Lord, there is only Cori.” For more information about Connors, “Pontiac Rocket” or the CD release concert go to www.coriconnors.com. Cori was commissioned to write a musical oratorio in conjunction with Sea Trek 2001. Read this press release from Sea Trek Foundation: WORLD RENOWNED
ARTISTS
TO PERFORM SALT LAKE CITY— April 30, 2001 — The Sea Trek Foundation today announced the musical events and performers for Sea Trek 2001 — the re-creation on tall ships of the epic 19th century Mormon migration from Europe to the United States. The musical performances are part of Sea Trek’s “Rock the Dock” celebrations, including historical exhibits, online genealogy workstations, educational forums, tall ship tours and other live entertainment that is open to the public while the Sea Trek ships are docked in the major ports of call. "I've always believed that music is a great unifier, transcending culture and language," said William K. Sadleir, chairman of the Sea Trek Foundation, the nonprofit organization managing the event. "I believe that the world-class performers participating in the Sea Trek 2001 musical events will not only entertain the crowds, but bring them together for a true international celebration." Portside musical entertainment includes: Saints on the
Seas Oratorio The oratorio is a stirring tribute to Mormon converts of Europe, Scandinavia and the U.K. who answered a religious call to gather in western America 150 years ago. Inspired by the lives of four Mormon emigrants, the production conveys the triumph and tragedy that accompanied faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they crossed the ocean. The story told through the musical score will be enhanced by the narration of entries from the emigrants' journals, while nautical and archival photo images are projected onto big sail-shaped screens. Saints on the Seas contains four movements and lasts approximately one hour and fifteen minutes. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir will perform Saints on the Seas in the U.K. ports (Hull, Liverpool and Portsmouth), the Estonia National Symphony Orchestra will perform it in Copenhagen, Gothenburg and Oslo, and the New York Academy of Music Immigrant Orchestra will perform the musical score in New York. Vocal soloists include internationally acclaimed Metropolitan Opera soprano Jennifer Welch-Babidge, baritone Darrell Babidge, tenor George Dyer and mezzo-soprano Jenny Frogley, performing songs written by world-renowned film score and new age composer Kurt Bestor, songwriter Cori Connors, and producer/conductor Mark Robinette, who has produced such well-known shows at the Orange Bowl halftime and parade. “Saints on the Seas will be performed against the backdrop of some of the world’s most beautiful concert halls including the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool, the Gothenburg Concert House, Guild Hall in Portsmouth and the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, among other impressive venues,” said Bestor. “Through the composition, we’ve sought to communicate the emotion in the hearts of the immigrants as they heroically made the transatlantic voyage to build a new home in America.” Tickets at costs of $10, $20 and $30 USD will be available for each Saints on the Seas production at www.seatrek2001.com. A CD soundtrack will also be sold on the Web site beginning in mid-July. T-minus Friday
House Band
Enoch Train
“Enoch Train, House Band and T-minus Friday will each perform three sets per day in most of the port cities, adding to the excitement and activities of our waterfront festivities,” said producer Mark Robinette. “We expect these performances to draw big crowds.” Beginning in Esbjerg, Denmark on August 7, 2001, the European portion of the 59-day voyage on nine tall ships includes stops at ports in Copenhagen, Denmark; Gothenburg, Sweden; Oslo, Norway; Hamburg, Germany; and Hull, Liverpool and Portsmouth, England. Four of the tall ships will then depart from Portsmouth on August 27 to cross the Atlantic via the southern route to the Canary Islands and Bermuda, arriving in New York City 39 days later for a celebration on October 4. Sea Trek 2001 is an international public event organized by the nonprofit Sea Trek Foundation to enhance understanding of the history and faith of Latter-day Saints. Re-living the courageous voyage Mormon immigrants made from Europe to the United States in the latter half of the 1800s under the Church’s “doctrine of the gathering,” Sea Trek 2001 celebrates the culturally diverse heritage of the Latter-day Saints while promoting social unity through public participation. |
Before they crossed the plains they crossed the ocean. SAINTS ON THE SEAS, a musical commemoration of the faith of 85,000 Latter-day Saints who answered the prophet's call to gather in Zion, is slated to be performed and recorded live during the week of Pioneer Holiday. Written by Cori Connors with Kurt Bestor and Mark Robinette, Saints on the Seas was originally commissioned by the Seatrek Foundation and was performed throughout England and Scandinavia in 2001 with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. 