Staff
Wendy Looker (she/her) is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, where she has chaired the Music Department and more recently, the Division of Fine Arts. In addition to directing the College Choir and LUMINA treble ensemble, Dr. Looker teaches early music history and culture, vocal performance and aural skills. Guilford College Choirs have toured Ireland, Prague, Austria, and up and down the East coast. As a choral artist and teacher, Looker is deeply committed to inclusive programming and champions works by underrepresented and historically marginalized composers. She believes wholeheartedly in the power of choral music to serve as a vehicle for social change and justice.
Dr. Looker serves as Immediate Past-President and Co-Membership Chair of the North Carolina chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. She was appointed chair of the first iteration of the NC ACDA Diversity Initiatives Committee, and as President, she led the board in examining issues of Accessibility, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging in all areas of choral practice and leadership.
Wendy maintains memberships in ACDA, NAfME, and The National College Choral Organization, of which Guilford College is a Founding Institutional Member. She has appeared as guest clinician for the NC Women’s All-State Chorus in addition to various All-County Choruses. In 2010, Dr. Looker was appointed Artistic Director of the Piedmont Chamber Singers of Winston-Salem, a position she held until 2015. A lyric soprano, Wendy has performed with the Bel Canto Company and has sung with and directed the Greensboro-based early music vocal ensemble, The Kensington Consort. She also enjoys engaging with Greensboro Symphony Orchestra audiences as a guest speaker for the Prelude series of pre-concert lectures.
A native of Buffalo, New York, Looker holds the Doctor of Music degree in Choral Conducting from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she studied with Jan Harrington and Carmen Helena Téllez. She holds the Master of Music degree in Conducting (choral emphasis) from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Jerry Blackstone; and the Bachelor of Arts degree in Vocal Performance from the State University of New York College at Geneseo.
Wendy’s loves include coffee, coffeehouses, bookstores, conversations over coffee at bookstores, podcasts, walking, reading, laughing and road trips with her family. She lives in Greensboro with her husband, Jeremy, their daughters Madeleine (14) and Mina (10), two cats and a dog.
