Waldemar Orlando Wensell

1944 - 

Waldemar Wensell, conductor, pianist, organist, and singer, has taught in six Seventh-day Adventist schools, including a college and five academies. An award-winning musician, he has taught and performed as a conductor and singer in Brazil, Argentina, and the U.S.

Wensell was born in Entre Rios, Argentina, the youngest of five children in a musically active family. He completed a B.Mus. in piano in 1965 at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música, leading conservatory of music in Argentina.

He started his career at Rio Grande Do Sul Academy in Brazil, serving as music director and teacher from 1966 to 1969. After that, he was music director and organist for the Voice of Prophecy in Brazil for three years. While at the VOP, he met and married his wife, Nancy, who was finishing her education. Following their marriage in 1972, they moved to Argentina, where Waldemar chaired the music program at River Plate College, now University, in Argentina, for the next fourteen years.

While at RPC, Waldemar completed a B.Mus. in voice at Universdad Nacional del Litoral in Sante Fe in 1976. In 1979 he completed both a B.A. in religion at RPC and an M.Mus. in vocal performance and pedagogy at Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Nancy also completed a master's degree in vocal education during their stay at RPC.

As a vocal soloist, Wensell performed more than fifteen times with different state orchestras in Argentina between 1972 and 1985. One of these was with Charles Édouard Dutoit, noted Swiss conductor, in a concert given by the National Symphony in Rio de Janeiro. Throughout his career in South America, Waldemar received numerous awards at both the national and state level as a composer, singer, and conductor.

The Wensell family moved to the U.S. in 1985, when he was invited to direct the choir and teach music classes at Greater Miami Academy in Florida. While in Florida, he was a member of the Coral Gables Civic Opera for three years. He performed several recitals and was Ferrando in their production of Giuseppe Verdi's Il Trovatore, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

In 1989 the Wensells moved to New Market, Virginia, where he directed the choir and orchestra and taught music classes at Shenandoah Valley Academy. While there, he completed an M.Mus. in conducting at Shenandoah University in 1993.

Wensell then taught music at Gem State Academy in Idaho and in 1998 was invited to be music director at Madison Academy and Madison Campus Church in Tennessee, positions he presently holds.

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Source: Waldemar Wensell Curriculum Vita; online article by Diana Hardin, unknown source; Other online sources; information provided by Waldemar Wensell, 2009; personal knowledge.