A lifelong singer, musician, and performer, Connie grew up in Virginia listening to her grandmother ‘tearing up the keys’ as a ragtime pianist, and her mom tickling those same ivories to share timeless favorites, It became a beloved family tradition played out whenever mom started “In the Mood” on the piano. Connie and her siblings would drop whatever they were doing to race to the living room to sing and groove along!
Connie has always loved connecting with others through music, such as singing in her early grade school choir. Her mother was her first piano teacher. In middle school she particularly loved small ensemble singing, caught the ‘theatre bug’ and found herself onstage acting and carrying lead roles and soloing in musicals. In her teens, a dear friend taught her how to play the guitar and she began playing and singing in song circles and for special events.
Connie attended college and graduated with a major in Performing Arts. Soon after she was cast in plays and musicals in regional theatre and began sitting in a wee black box theatre with arms held high, manipulating rod puppets with the puppet troupes’ founder in a series of children’s puppet stories.
The creative multicultural buzz of NYC caught her fancy, and she continued training and was an active member of a theater troupe based in Soho. While in New York Connie discovered additional passions, including jazz vocal improvisation, Afro-Haitian dancing and drumming, and teaching young children!
While working with children in a small school around the corner from her home in the village, she had the opportunity to sit on the audience side of black puppeteer’s box. Connie was struck by how captivated children were by the magic of puppetry! Soon after she founded and became the artistic director of Starlite Puppets & Music, sharing puppetry and song at schools, private events, and libraries. She also earned a master’s degree in education, learned a treasure trove of stories and music for children, and began to create original stories and songs of her own.
Connie learned how to play lilting melodies on the recorder and was persuaded by a harpist to pluck up the courage to study the instrument and perform for special events. She was a co-founder of the musical groups “Kinderfolk” and a teacher’s band, “Making the Grade”. As an early childhood educator and mentor, she felt especially drawn to parent child work. She also began teaching elementary school grades music classes, and leading festivals in song. She soon after fell in love with the ukulele, which is currently her primary instrument!
Aloha Magic: Classic Soft Rock: Folk/Celtic
Her music includes a fusion of folk, pop, jazz, blues, and island style. Connie performs at festivals, eateries, libraries, senior centers, and private events; leads jams and workshops, and teaches ukulele privately to children and adults. Connie is most inspired by music’s profound capacity to bring people together through the celebration of inspirational imaginations that elicit warmth, joy, excitement, and a spirit of community. Connie loves to express music from the heart and is available for your event or venue as a solo, duo, or trio acoustic experience!
Scroll down to meet the sound effects master of Starlite Puppets and Music!
"The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper." -Yeats
Peter Chin, Connie's life partner, has an extraordinary ability to know just when the story needs a sound effect to complement the magic! She is honored to share this work with him; a talented musician and retired Waldorf teacher beloved by so many parents and children. Peter Chin has been a teacher working in elementary and secondary education for over thirty years. He began his career as a Waldorf class teacher in Colorado and continued serving as a class teacher in California and most recently Florida. He has a background in the dramatic arts and enjoys providing musical and theatrical support for Starlite Puppets & Music productions.
