Cora Stolper — a celebrated opera singer, dedicated music educator, songwriter, and performer — is preparing to release her first full-length album, In Dreams: Lullabies for Children. This collection, produced in partnership with local industry legend Brian Mann, aims to nurture the emotional connection between parents and children, foster calm, and support the transition into sleep through artfully crafted lullabies.
“I’d describe the album as a cozy, loving invitation for connection,” says Stolper. Encouraging listeners to “connect with each other, connect with the dream world, and connect with the sense of magic that we all have as children.”
Featuring lullabies in English, Spanish, and Stolper’s native German, the album expands to include traditional folk songs, jazz ballads, and original compositions. Each lullaby on In Dreams is deeply intentional, evoking feelings of safety, wonder, and magic as essential components of the bedtime ritual. The album isn’t just for kids; it also invites parents to reconnect with their inner child and provides a gentle soundscape for listeners of all ages. In the same vein of the many podcasts and meditation apps designed to help us turn off the noise of the waking world in order to find restful peace, In Dreams is an album with the intention to both encourage a shared connection between parents and children through music and to bring them peace and comfort within the sacred, liminal space between wakefulness and sleep.
Stolper has led movement and music classes across the globe, singing and dancing with children in the Philippines and Peru and training more than 25 preschool teams across Germany and New York City. While the album reflects Stolper’s international background, our quiet coastal town has left a marked influence on her work, both by introducing her to Mann — her next-door neighbor and a like-minded musician, composer, and music arranger — and by nurturing her creative development as an artist.
“Santa Barbara is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. The architecture, nature, even the flowers … I’ve never seen anything like it. Some cities feel as though they have an edge, but Santa Barbara is spacious, quiet, and beautiful. … The softness of Santa Barbara has inspired me, helping to bring out a softness that I think has been inside me all my life. Santa Barbara has given me permission to embrace that softness and that desire to create beauty.”
Referencing a translated statement by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe that has inspired her work, Stolper quotes, “There are two gifts we should give our children: One is roots, and the other is wings.” Representing an important concept of German educational philosophy, this quote emphasizes the tremendous importance of both grounding and fostering independence and creativity in children, both of which Stolper believes that In Dreams can inspire in young listeners. After all, “lullabies provide safety and connection, but they also invite you to dream.”
You can listen to In Dreams on streaming platforms, estimated to be out in August 2025. For more information about Cora Stolper and her new album release, visit thecorashow.space.
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