A farm girl at heart who needs green beauty, Christine not only thrives beholding the beauty of creation, she loves being creative herself. A writer, teacher, composer, and now, publisher, Christine first discovered she loved stories and words as a child. Then, as a teenager, she started teaching piano lessons and discovered she loves teaching, too. Around the same time, she put a few chords together and created her first piano composition, Dreamer’s Sonata, which won her first place overall in the high school talent show. That experience was all she needed to energize a lifetime of love for music. It took a few decades before she realized she loves publishing, as well. Now, she feels blessed for the skills she’s developed pursuing all of her passions; they work well together enabling her to teach through word and music and then share her thoughts, feelings, and techniques with others.
Christine’s first CD, In the Distance, consisted of 11 of her own compositions of piano solos and violin/piano duets, self-published and recorded with a violinist friend in 1997. She finished writing The Good Shepherd, in 2003 and played the piano in its first performance. (It has since been updated and orchestrated.) In 2008, Building Blocks Press published her 26 children’s songs for learning to read, Critter Crew with Melody Lou: Alphabet Songs. Her Playing the Piano, Do Re Mi series, first appearing in 2016, was inspired by training she received in the Kodály philosophy of children’s choir education. expanded to encompass piano education. That project opened the door for Christine to start developing and publishing non-musical publications she would use in her own home and family including a personal history book, annual journal series with index, financial record-keeping books, kitchen planner, garden planner, and more.
Christine’s favorite in-progress projects include:
- Desiree – a historical musical recounting the life of Napoleon’s first fiancé, whose husband helped defeat Napoleon and with whom she later founded of the current Swedish dynasty. (What an amazing story!)
- The Music Mountain, in combo with Christine Hadlock’s Musical Alphabet Games– 1st, a visual approach to mastering all of the notes on the grand staff through the imagery of snowmen (C chords in various octaves), their accessories, and their place on the mountain, and…2nd, games to play in lessons/class and at home to solidify the knowledge….because it is so nice when students actually know the notes!
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