Music

Peaceful Homecoming for Caroline Cotter

The Providence native returns to play a benefit concert for the Peace Flag Project

Posted

On April 30, Providence native and globetrotting folk singer-songwriter Caroline Cotter will be returning to her old stomping grounds for a concert at the Lincoln School to benefit the Peace Flag Project. Over the last decade, Cotter has travelled the world with her guitar in hand, living in 28 different countries across five continents. This has given her a greater appreciation for the beauty of various cultures, something that is reflected in her music as much as in her worldview. Cotter has written songs in multiple languages, including French, Portuguese and Sanskrit, but her curiosity towards other cultures began long before she set out on her travels.  

“Where I grew up in Providence was really diverse,” she says. “It’s been neat to be in places where I know classmates were from, like Southeast Asia or Portugal, the Dominican Republic and Honduras. I wasn’t aware of the significance of how much culture I was getting as a kid. It made me really curious about the world.”
That’s a sentiment echoed by Peace Flag Project founder, Ginny Fox.

“We have one million people in Rhode Island and it’s amazing where they’re from,” says Fox. “There are significant numbers of people from all over the world and I think it’s amazing [that] in this little state that we have so much diversity.”

Fox founded the Peace Flag Project to promote the ways in which people can spread peace in their community through positivity. Originally inspired by the tradition of Tibetan prayer flags – colorful flags containing messages and prayers for peace – the Peace Flag Project has grown in recent years. It’s signature event, RI PeaceFest, is held annually to celebrate UN International Peace Day, and has expanded into a month long celebration of peace and diversity.

“I really think we need to emphasize the positive in our world,” says Fox. “There’s so much positivity that doesn’t get talked about in our media. I think if we did acknowledge that we’d have a different sense of the world.”

“The Peace Flag Project has such a simple and beautiful mission,” explains Cotter. “I love the idea of focusing on what you want rather than what you don’t.”

Concert for Peace featuring Caroline Cotter. Saturday, April 30. Lincoln School Music Center, 301 Butler Avenue, Providence. 6:30pm. www.ThePeaceFlagProject.org/Caroline-Cotter-Concert

Caroline Cotter, Peace Flag Project, Lincoln School, East Side Monthly, Tony Pacitty, Ginny Fox, pease, tibetan prayer flags, concert, music, folk music, world music, benefit concert

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here



X