Anita was born in the Philippines to missionary parents and began work as a church musician as a teenager. She graduated from Valparaiso University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music and continued her work as organist and accompanist until 2003 when she began a career as a Foreign Service Officer and diplomat with the U.S. Department of State, serving in Washington D.C. and U.S. embassies and consulates around the world including Seoul, Jerusalem, and Tallinn (Estonia). Married for 42 years, Anita is the mother of three, grandmother of four and enjoys birding, sewing and cooking. Now retired from the Foreign Service and living in College Park, Maryland, she is back to making music, happy to be on her first tour with the Cornerstone Chorale.

Currently resides in: College Park, MD

Number of Cornerstone tours: 1

Tawnee Lynn Lillo, French horn, is based in Los Angeles and is thrilled to be joining Cornerstone Chorale and Brass for her first tour. Receiving her formal training with a bachelor’s degree from University of Arizona under the late Keith Johnson in 2000 and a masters degree from USC with both Richard Todd and the late Vincent DeRosa in 2004, she now teaches horn as an adjunct professor at Pasadena City College and El Camino College, coaches the French horns of Pasadena Youth Orchestra, consults for The Horn Guys and has a very active freelance lifestyle. Ms. Lillo has hired musicians for several live shows/tours/artists, plays in many different groups ranging in classical, jazz, pop, rock, hip hop and even her own trio, Triple Play. She also loves performing musicals, opera, vocalists, playing with her colleagues and spending time with her family consisting of 9 musical nieces and nephews.

Something near and dear to her heart is social justice, and being a positive influence to people all around the world through the power of music and her singing dog, Booker. You can find more about Tawnee’s adventurous musical life at www.tawneelynnmusic.com.

Currently resides in: Los Angeles, CA

Number of Cornerstone tours: 1

Laura completed a doctorate in brass performance and pedagogy at the University of Iowa, where she was a member of the Iowa Brass Quintet.  She studied music education at Messiah College (Mechanicsburg, PA), and has a master’s degree in trumpet performance from Boston University (Boston, MA), with additional chamber music study at the University of New Mexico (Albuquerque, NM).
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Currently resides in: Solon, IA

Number of Cornerstone tours: 3