A.J. Wester

Instructor of Voice and Opera Theatre

A.J. Wester is an active stage director and vocal technician. She directed Once Upon a Mattress for Merit School of Music, Ragtime, Oklahoma and Urinetown for After School Matters. 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. 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). Wester has been an assistant director for Chicago Opera Theater, Utah Opera, Indianapolis Opera and San Diego Opera. 

As a classical singer, 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 Three, Four and Five 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 in Evanston, IL.

In addition, she serves on the voice faculty of the ChiArts High School in the musical theater program as well as a voice teacher with Music of the Baroque’s Strong Voices program and Lyric Opera’s High School residency program. She served as the stage director for the Opera Music Theatre Ensemble which was part of the Reneé Fleming Solo Voice Initiative program between the Merit School of Music and Lyric Opera of Chicago for 10 years. 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. She recently won a ‘Make a Wave’ award in 2017 from 3Arts for her work as a teaching artist.

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