Maestro Cory A. Parkinson - ASCAP

r his vocal teacher Holley McKee, has also studied voice with Robert Holst, and with Stephen West at the University of Michigan. Cory has performed with numerous choirs as accompanist and as a singer, has performed in solo piano recitals under his piano teachers John Connolly and Belford Hernandez, as well as playing piano duets with Belford Hernandez, and filling in as rehearsal accompanist for his high school’s choirs. He studied piano with Ra-Jung Yang at the University of Michigan and has been invited as a guest pianist to perform in jazz combos, pit orchestras, percussion ensembles, church choirs, and wind ensembles. Cory has also accompanied many solo performers and vocalists, has sung the National Anthem at numerous high school sporting events and pep assemblies, and has twice performed at Symphony Hall in Chicago with his high school’s Madrigal Singers, which he was a member of for two years. Cory was an IMEA District 1 Choir member for three years, and an IMEA All-State Honors Choir member for two years, 2007 and 2008. Cory continued his studies for the second year at the Interlochen Center for the Arts as one of only ten composers admitted from over 40 countries and all 50 states. Cory’s conducting debut took place in early 2008 with the DGS Wind Ensemble, playing Charles Ives’ “Variations on America;” he later conducted the World Premiere of his own piece “Hockets and Offbeats.” In the summer of 2008, Cory, along with musicians from the District 99 Honors Band, performed the European Premiere of the same work. That year, Cory also conducted the DGS Madrigal Singers in singing his mass-excerpt “Agnus Dei.” His conducting has been noted by several influential musicians as “masterfully decisive,” “expressive & profound,” “a promising talent,” and “commanding…[he] possesses a dramatic flair.”
Aside from being a performer and conductor, Cory is a 13-award-winning composer, writing mainly for piano, solo instruments accompanied by piano, chamber ensembles, and choir (a ca****la and/or accompanied), but has experience writing for large instrumental ensembles as well. Cory is a member of ASCAP, SCI, ACF, ACO, AMG, SEAMUS, ACDA, National Band Assoc. (NBA), MENC/NAfME, IMEA/MMEA/CMEA, MMC, MTNA, MMTA, PAS, CBDNA, HSBDNA, and ACM, as well as non-music AATG, NHS, BSA/OA, and (German Honor Society); and is a collegiate member of -Sinfonia Music Fraternity (-chapter). Cory has participated in Accessible Contemporary Music's (ACM) Composition Seminar for Young Composers, is a composer-member of the ACM, and has participated in master classes with composer Stacy Garrop and Seth Boustead. Cory has studied composition with John Connolly, Belford Hernandez, Seth Boustead, John K. Boyle, Erik Santos, and Roshanne Etezady, and has also participated in seminars with Frank Ticheli ,William Bolcom, Carter Pann, and Christopher Rouse. At the University of Michigan, he studied composition with Erik Santos primarily, but also Michael Daugherty, Bright Sheng, Kristen Kuster, and Evan Chambers. In 2007, Cory won first place in the piano category of IMEA’s All-State Composition Contest. In 2008, he won three more awards for the same event in the Arranging, Avant-garde, and Vocal categories. In 2009, Cory won two awards in the same competition: 2nd Place in Vocal Solo and 3rd Place in Choral. Cory’s compositions and arrangements have been premiered by many of his school’s select ensembles, as well as Chicago-area musicians and a regional string orchestra. In late 2008, Cory the received his first of an eventual three prestigious ASCAPlus awards for overall compositional achievement. Cory also received the National High School Choral Award and the inaugural Diane Hires Memorial Grant in 2008. Cory mainly writes in various contemporary classical styles including influences from Russian neo-Romanticism and minimalism, but also incorporates jazz/Latin jazz styles, and has written a fair number of hymns/anthems in multiple languages including Russian, Latin, and English. Cory’s compositions have been described as “innovative,” “clever,” and “highly intriguing,” by prominent members of the music community. Cory has an IQ of 164 and is fluent in German, after having studied it for four years in high school and one year in college. Cory attended the University of Michigan studying composition and conducting, and is continuing his musical journey. After receiving his Bachelor of Music degree in composition, Cory plans on obtaining master’s degrees in composition and orchestral/choral conducting, and double doctoral degrees; a PhD in theory/composition and a DMA in conducting. He hopes to teach at both the secondary and higher education levels, as well as become a prolific composer and conductor. In 2006, Cory founded Classical Connections�, as his exclusive, full-service ASCAP music publishing company, which he later expanded to provide music lessons, composition/arranging/orchestration commissions, performance services, conducting/music direction services (for high school, community, and music production, music software tutorials, music tutoring for collegiate students—as well as high-schoolers taking AP Music Theory, and music consulting. Today, Cory is the President/CEO & Owner/Proprietor of Classical Connections�, which operates in Central California; however, thanks to modern technology, Classical Connections� is a small company with a global reach! Currently, the Maestro resides in Merced, CA and teaches private piano, voice, and composition/theory lessons, while taking film scoring lessons online in a Master Class with Hans Zimmer (courtesy of www.masterclass.com), and plays the piano as a leisure activity, while his voice recuperates from several severe lung/breathing complications.