First in our new blog series, we kick off our Singer Spotlights with Bellingham Chamber Chorale's own alto section leader, Wendy Bloom.
Wendy commenced her musical career at a young age. Starting in elementary school, she began playing the piano, the clarinet and added the guitar in eighth grade. It was while strumming the two chords of What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor that she discovered the joy of singing.
Wendy developed a love of all music. "I grew up in a very small town with no orchestras for miles, and no classical music radio stations an hour any direction from my home. My mother was a singer, pianist, and organist, so maybe some of her musicality rubbed off on me. Music was my whole life from the time I was a little kid," says Wendy.
Since those early years, Wendy has developed into a talented freelance musician. She has sung with choirs, as a soloist, a quartet member, a vocal coach, and has held church music positions. Wendy also taught choral music in a private school (grades 6-12) for 14 years, choral music in a big public school for one year, and was a professor at Concordia University, Ann Arbor for several years.
Wendy moved to Bellingham from Michigan in 2016 to be near her two daughters after losing her husband to cancer. Daughters, Cassidy and Amanda, had lived in Bellingham for several years previous to her move and Wendy always enjoyed visiting this beautiful area. And the apples have not fallen far from the tree, as both daughters are also singers.
The Pacific Northwest has been a great fit for Wendy in her other interests as well. Hiking and kayaking are favorite activities of hers. Her love of gardening has taken on new excitement as she adapts to the different climate and explores new plants. Travel is another activity that Wendy enjoys and she hopes to visit Hawaii and Alaska soon to complete her tour of all fifty states. After that, Australia and New Zealand top the destination list.
Outside of choral music, Wendy enjoys Audra McDonald, Ani DiFranco and cabaret music.
Wendy's expertise has certainly helped the alto section of our choir to progress to an elevated level. About Bellingham Chamber Chorale this year, she shares that she "loves attending rehearsals that aren’t focused on learning notes. I’m enjoying working with singers who have come with their notes already learned. We have so much opportunity to sing at a very sophisticated, highly musical level."
To hear Wendy with the Bellingham Chamber Chorale, buy tickets today for our next concert, coming very soon November 10th and 11th!