Amy Weller, Director

Dr. Amy Weller is delighted to begin her first season as Music Director of the Downers Grove Choral Society.   Before joining the DGCS, she served as the conductor of the University Singers and instructor of Choral Literature at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. Previously, she was Director of Choral Organizations and Associate Professor of Music at DePaul University. While at DePaul, Dr. Weller founded the DePaul Community Chorus, a thriving ensemble that owes its existence to her own love of community choral singing.

Already in possession of a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stanford University, Dr. Weller acquired a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science from Dominican University while staying “at home” with two young sons. During this time, she edited a scholarly edition of Anton Reicha’s Missa Pro Defunctis (Requiem). The Requiem had its premiere performance in Palo Alto, California in November of 2009. To read a review of the performance go to 

http://www.sfcv.org/reviews/peninsula-symphony/and-now-for-something-completely-different.

An accomplished singer as well as violinist, Dr. Weller performed in Chicago for many seasons with His Majesties Clerkes, now Bella Voce. Before arriving in Chicago, she sang with ensembles ranging from early music choirs in California to symphony choruses back east, most notably the Blossom Festival Chorus, the summer chorus that performs with the Cleveland Orchestra. In addition to her doctoral degree in music and library degree, she holds a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Temple University and a Bachelor of Arts in music from Cornell University. Additional studies took place at the Aspen Music Festival, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Meadowmount School of Music, and L’École des Arts Américaines in Fontainebleau, France.

In Chicago, Dr. Weller has prepared choirs for performances with such conductors as Margaret Hillis, James Paul and the Grant Park Symphony, and Hilel Kagan and Concertante di Chicago. Outside of Chicago, choirs under her direction have performed with the Cleveland Opera Theatre and the Ithaca Opera Association, among others. Her choruses have been featured at conventions of the American Choral Directors Association and the Music Educators National Conference.