Caroline Phillips

 

The power of sound and harmony captured my spirit early in childhood when I began exploring tones on a wooden psaltery my parents picked up at a renaissance fair. Admiring the smooth texture of the bow being pulled across the outer strings, I would lose myself in the resonance while plucking out little tunes and lullabies. I recall feeling very curious as to why there were tones that sounded the same but were higher or lower than one another (the octave).

 

My family had an old Kimball piano in the home that belonged to my late grandmother. My innate desire to know more about tones and harmony grew, and I began piano lessons at age nine. My teachers over the years were all very rooted in the classical tradition (for which I am grateful) and would sigh heavily at my expressed yearning to play like Freddie Mercury or when I would bring Scott Joplin scores to my piano lessons. They described my musical taste as being “very eclectic.”

 

My motivations for playing have evolved and softened over the years. I feel blessed now to have the perspective of making music to serve God, and to call the spirit into my heart to resonate more fully. I make, serve, and explore music so as to tap into the hearts of other beings and to share God’s love with them through resonance and harmony.

 

Thank you for being here.

Caroline received a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida. She graduated with honors in the spring of 2013. Her studies included piano performance, woodwind (saxophone and bassoon) studies, an intensive review of music theory, aural training with emphasis on solfège singing in application to melodic and harmonic analyses, orchestration and score arranging, composition, and conducting.

 

Caroline’s pianistic style is primarily classical, specializing in instrumental and choral accompaniment.