A Musical Journey- Wendi

I thought it might be a good idea to give everyone an idea of our individual music backgrounds. Kind of a "get to know you" post.

I've been involved in music and performing my whole life. At the age of 3, my mom enrolled me in Sunshine Generation. I remember loving all the singing and dancing and "Teddy Bear Picinics". When I got older, the instructors had me help teach the younger kids and that's when I got my first taste of teaching. While I started piano lessons official at age 8, I remember my parents had a little keyboard and my mom put stickers with the note names on the keys and gave me a little help to start playing some easy songs. Once I started taking lessons, I advanced pretty quickly. I had a pretty good instinct for music and piano playing. I didn't love practicing, but thanks to my mom's insistence, I took lessons for a long time. I was even fortunate enough to have a piano teacher who also played the organ. I took organ lessons and was able to play for church and even compete in the Utah State Fair Organ Competition.

I took lessons through most of high school. I became a really solid sight reader and accompanist and often accompanied many students during solo and ensemble season. I was also a regular accompanist for my school choirs. In addtion to accompanying, I sang in my high school choirs. I was especially fortunate to audition and be selected for my school's Chamber Choir. It was a select group of 30 senior singers. As part of that group, and the larger senior choir, I got to travel to New York and perform on stages and in churches there in the city. It was an amazing experience and further drilled in my love for music.

My mom had me teach my younger brothers piano lessons. Word spread and soon I was teaching a few students. I really loved playing and teaching piano, but singing was always my real passion. I had never had a voice lesson until college, but still got a scholarship at Weber State University for Vocal Performance. I loved taking lessons and learning more about my voice and what it was capable of. But my freshman year was stressful and I had a hard time as a music major. I ended up switching and I graduated from Weber State in History and Political Science. I didn't know for sure what I wanted to do and for a while, I just kind of drifted. But I kept playing the piano for different things, including accompanying a wedding and event singer.

It it didn't take me long to realize that I needed a career in music. I began teaching more and more students. I had piano and voice students. I read all the vocal technique books I could get my hands on, I accompanied lessons for a few different voice teachers and learned a lot from them, I spent 3 years as an accompanist in the Musical Theater Department at the University of Utah. All the while I was trying to get more and more performing experience to build a ,ore impressive resume. I've performed at Rodgers Memorial Theater and it new replacement, Centerpoint Legcay Theater. I've also performed for Davis Arts Council and in the LDS Church production of Savior of the World. Currently, I am performing at Desert Star Theater.

I also started getting my ducks in a row to go back and get my music degree. It was a long road. Fortunately, I married a very supportive man. He pushed me to become better and to takes risks, like auditioning for the University of Utah's Vocal Performance program. I was successful and am just finishing up my Sophomore year in the program. I look forward to my final 2 years in this program and continuing my studies in a graduate program.

I've been running a private music studio for 15 years, off and on. I am classical trained and also have extensive experience in musical theater performing. I love teaching all ages to develop their talents and love for music!