Wendy Pylko, 1st Year Director
Wendy Knudsen Pylko
1st year director
Wendy Pylko received her Master’s Degree in Vocal Arts from the University of Southern California following her BA in Liberal Arts from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. She also trained at the Aspen Music School, the Music Academy of the West and the Minnesota Opera Institute. As a soprano she has performed at the Aspen Music Festival, the Minnesota Opera Institute, Nevada Opera Theatre, Orange County Opera, Southland Opera, Inland Opera and the Intimate Opera Company. She has recorded as a soloist for Los Angeles Chamber Singers and recorded operatic voice-overs for Warner Brothers animated series, Animaniacs. Additionally, she was a soloist heard in the Academy Award winning documentary by Steven Spielberg, The Last Days.
She was a Teaching Artist for The Los Angeles Music Center Education Department, and Los Angeles Opera’s Education and Community Relations Department from 2002-2008. She has also taught workshops in schools for the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts and for Southland Opera. In addition to teaching privately, she has taught annually at the Idyllwild Arts Summer Program since 2000. She was the director of Choral Music at Flintridge Preparatory School for 4 years, and has also led the Children’s Choirs at Church of Our Saviour in San Gabriel.
She lives in San Marino with her husband Tim, a psychiatrist, and their 2 daughters, Celeste, age 16, and Fiona, 11. In addition to performing, teaching and supporting the arts, she is an advocate for her daughter Fiona, who has autism, and is involved with charities supporting the research and treatment of autism and other brain disorders.