Courtney Winslett began studying piano at the age of five from Yvonne Reynolds of Dallas.  Performing for her first hotel brunch for Mother’s Day at the Hyatt Regency in Dallas at the age of seven, she has performed for major business corporations in the Metroplex and entertained at the local “country opries,” including the Mesquite Opry and Arlington’s Johnny High Country Music Revue. 

At the age of eight, she was featured in a video hosted by Quin Matthews entitled “The Possible Dream” in which she played the piano.  When she was ten years old, she was one of the opening acts for Jerry Lee Lewis in Little Rock, Arkansas. 

Being chosen to play the piano for a dinner banquet in Fort Worth honoring Van Cliburn was quite an honor for twelve year old Courtney.  She has entered and placed in numerous piano competitions, including placing first in nine of the ten jazz piano contests she entered. 

When she was in the sixth grade, she began studying saxophone, for which her most recent instructor was Tim Ishii, Professor of Music at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth.  Courtney auditioned for and was accepted to the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas.  It was there that she was a member of the wind ensemble, MIDI ensemble, saxophone quintet, as well as the jazz combo, playing piano and saxophone.  She was an All-State band member twice, including lead alto in the Texas All-State Jazz Band. 

Courtney performed with the Arts Magnet MIDI ensemble and jazz combo at the International Jazz Educator’s Association Convention in New Orleans.  In an effort to promote music education in the school system, VH1 sponsored a public awareness campaign entitled, “Save the Music.”  As a part of the promotion, the TV station sponsored contests around the U.S. where the student winner was awarded the chance to play with the band “Chicago” on stage in concert.  Courtney won in the Dallas area and performed with the band at Starplex in August of 1999.  She also participated in Germany, France, and the U.S. in the cultural exchange program called the Lone Star International Jazz Exchange, playing jazz concerts with students from Germany and Slovakia. 

Courtney has traveled to Alaska performing with the Carry Richard’s Jazz Orchestra playing lead alto, flute, and clarinet aboard the Radisson Seven Seas Cruise Ship, the Mariner.  Following her graduation at age eighteen, she was employed by First United Methodist Church of Arlington where she was the Contemporary Worship Leader for two years.  During the summer of 2002, Courtney was selected from a nationwide audition tour to play at Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure with Disney’s All-American College Band in Anaheim, California playing with jazz greats such as Horace Silver, Bob Florence, and Jeff Kashiwa.  She recently played with the Princess Orchestra on the Golden Princess Cruise Ship during the 2005 holiday season in the Caribbean Islands. 

In 2004, She graduated from Texas Wesleyan University in Forth Worth with her Bachelor of Arts degree as a Music Performance Major and in 2007 graduated from University of North Texas with her Masters of Music degree in Jazz Studies.  She teaches private piano and saxophone lessons, is currently employed as the pianist at the Greenhouse Spa, and is the Associate Director of Music at The Oaks Baptist Church. 

Fun Facts:  Her favorite color is pink, her nickname is Saxophone Barbie, she has a little white tea-cup poodle named Treble Clef, and her girl is her sista, Layci, who is a red-headed rockin’ drummer.