Gail Boyd Wettstein
1959-
Gail Wettstein,
soprano soloist and voice teacher, has performed extensively in oratorios,
musicals, and operas. An award winning singer, she has soloed with orchestras,
presented concerts and recitals internationally, and used her talents to
support charitable causes.
Gail was born in Norfolk,
Nebraska, to Elwood and Doris Boyd. Raised in a family of six children in which
music was an integral part of their lives, she sang from her earliest years
with her sister, Julie, at church-related events. She grew up in the Northwest
and entered Walla Walla Valley Academy in 1975, soon after her parents moved to
College Place, Washington. She studied voice with Sonja Gourley
throughout her academy years.
Following graduation in 1978,
she enrolled at Walla Walla College, now University, as an English major and
music minor. At the end of her first year she spent a year as a student
missionary in Haiti, before resuming her studies at WWC. She married Richard
(Rick) Wettstein following her return from Haiti and
they settled in Canada, where he became a respiratory therapist.
While residing in New
Brunswick, Canada, she began music study in the Royal Conservatory program and
giving lessons in voice and piano in 1991. She continued with the Royal
Conservatory and in 1997 finished her degree in Vocal Performance, becoming an
Associate of the Royal Conservatory, Toronto. She was awarded the gold medal in voice performance for that year, on the basis of
the quality of her applied examinations.
In 1996 the Wettsteins moved to Saudia Arabia,
where Rick became the director of the respiratory program at Loma Linda
University's Riyadh campus. They remained there for five and a half years.
During that time Gail studied with April Cantelo in
England and Bernadette Greevy of Ireland, and sang in
South Africa, Denmark, England, Spain, and Saudi Arabia.
They returned to the U.S. in
2001 and settled in San Antonio, Texas, where they now reside. In subsequent
years Wettstein has studied voice with Linda Poetschke and has become a favorite soloist with that
city's concertgoers. She has soloed with the San Antonio Symphony, San Antonio
Chamber Choir, San Antonio Mastersingers, San Antonio Opera, Go
for Baroque Orchestra, and the Magik Theatre. The
last of these is a children's theater for which she has performed in
productions of Dr. Suess stories and, most recently,
a successful production of The Bug Opera.
In addition to performing
throughout the United States, Wettstein has shared
what has been described as her luminous voice and stage presence in a number of
concerts. She has been a soloist in productions of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Handel’s Messiah, Vivaldi’s
Gloria, Bach’s Cantata No. 51, and Mozart’s Coronation Mass.
She has also sung the roles
of Yum Yum in Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado,
Laurie in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, Lucy in Menotti’s The
Telephone, and Annina in Verdi’s La Traviata. Additionally, she has lent her talents to
charitable causes, including singing in concerts and recitals benefiting a
young family in need, the San Antonio Symphony, women’s shelters, and San
Antonio animal shelters.
The Wettsteins
are the parents of three children. Her son, Kristopher, a recent music graduate
of Walla Walla University, completed a master’s degree in piano performance at
Rice University in 2009 and is pursuing a career in music. A gifted performer
and composer, he has written music for voice, which she includes in her
recitals.
ds/2013
Sources:
Interview, 2008; online sources; personal knowledge.