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“Highly Imaginative*”-Ms. Wester is an active stage director, voice teacher and teaching artist in the Chicago area. She is on the directing faculty of Chicago Summer Opera. She has led Carmen and Le Nozze di Figaro with Chicago Summer Opera and will lead The Consul and Giulio Cesare in the summer of 2024. She has led many productions for the St. Petersburg Opera including their 2013 production of Tosca, their 2010 season opener of A Little Night Music, La Traviata and the Fall 2009 production of Into the Woods to rave reviews from both audiences and critics alike. She directed Once Upon a Mattress for Merit School of Music, Ragtime, Oklahoma, and Urinetown for After School Matters. Ms. Wester also has led productions at the Bay View Music Festival (The Magic Flute), Intimate Opera (La Traviata and Cosí fan Tutte) and Opera Company Brooklyn (Roméo et Juliette), The Savoyaires (Evanston, IL) (The Zoo, Eyes and No Eyes and Trial by Jury and Patience).   Ms. Wester has been an Assistant Director for Chicago Opera Theater, Utah Opera, Indianapolis Opera and San Diego Opera.  

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Ms. Wester also works with Lyric Opera’s Lyric Unlimited program that work to bring DEI initiatives into classical music. Previously, Ms. Wester has served on the Opera and Voice faculty of Northern Illinois University, the Musical Theatre faculty for the Chicago High School for the Arts, the Musical Theatre Faculty of the National High School Institute (Cherubs) for both Acting the Song as well as Musical Theatre vocal techniques. She served as the Stage Director and Voice teacher for the Opera Music Theatre Ensemble which was part of the Renée Fleming Solo Voice Initiative program between the Merit School of Music and Lyric Opera of Chicago. Ms. Wester was the Stage Director/Vocal Coach for Chicago Opera Theater’s ‘Chicago Opera Theater for Teens’ – a paid apprenticeship program sponsored by the City of Chicago with Chicago Opera Theater as well as founding Musical Theater Experience with After School Matters. She recently won a ‘Make a Wave’ award in 2017 from 3Arts for her work as a teaching artist. She keeps an active voice studio. Her former students have won both the musical theatre and the classical competitions with CLASSICAL SINGER as well as many NATS competitions. They are gracing the stages of Europe, the United states and Latin America in Classical music, Musical Theatre, Banda and Indie Rock.

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As a classical singer, Ms. Wester was a Studio Artist with Utah Opera. She has also appeared as a featured soloist in the Welcome Yule Christmas concert with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Dabeeb in the North American Premiere of Marriages between Zones 3, 4 and 5 by Phillip Glass as well as productions with Chicago Opera Theater, Court Theater, Porchlight Theater, DePaul Opera Theater, Intermezzo Opera in Hartford, CT, American Opera Group, Elgin Opera and multiple productions with Light Opera Works. Most recently she has been a soloist with Cor Cantiamo and Voices in Harmony.

Ms. Wester holds a B.M. from Roosevelt University and an M.M from DePaul University.

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*The Petosky Times