BIO

Teresa Wimmer (1963) was born and raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. In 1988, she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre with a concentration in Acting from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. She returned to Virginia Commonwealth University in 1997 to pursue a Bachelor's Degree in Music with a concentration in Music Composition. She received the VCU Undergraduate Research Grant (1998) and produced an evening of original music presented at the 1708 Gallery in Richmond, Virginia. While at VCU, she was one of the collaborating composers for the original score of Theatre VCU's production of As You Like It (1999), and composed three pieces for Dance VCU's Composer/Choreography workshops (1999,2000).

Outside of the university, she presented full length concerts of her original music at Centenary United Methodist Church and the Sacred Heart Cathedral. (Richmond) The summer of 1999, at Interlochen Centre for the Arts in Interlochen, Michigan, she premiered the first movement of her 4 movement ballet, Chrysalis.

In 2000, Teresa moved to New York City to continue her studies in Music Composition at the Juilliard's School of Music Evening Division. Her music has been presented choreographed with ballet and modern dance in a self-produced concert at St. Mark's Church (New York) in 2001.

Teresa has produced several dance concerts in New York City presenting her original music with dance as well as commissioning other composers and choreographers to premiere new works. The first of these concerts was Creation 2003 at the Brooklyn Music School in May 2003. The concert featured a commissioned piano solo by Ursel Schlicht entitled Surreal Dream Under a Tree, Model No.1, incorporating excerpts from Thornton Wilder's Our Town. Choreography was by Kimberly Craigie.

At BRIC Studios, in June 2004 (New York), the second concert featured her piece, A Day in the Life, an Alice in Wonderland kind of walk through a day exploring moving beyond the lines of generic reality. A Day in the Life, was partially funded by a grant by the Brooklyn Arts Council, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Field. Choreographer was Eun Jung Gonzalez.

In May 2005 (New York), in collaboration with choreographer, Giada Ferrone, Etude Nos. 1-6 "Utopia," a piece for On Pointe ballet, premiered at the Clark Studio Theatre for the DanceTracks NYC Spring 2005 showcase Composition.

In July 2006, at the Tenri Cultural Institute of New York, Teresa curated and produced A Trio Suite: On the Flip Side which brought together contemporary composers and movers to explore surrealism in music and dance. The concert used movement, text, original music and sound collage to explore the idea of a gallery in which people rather than art are on exhibit. Choreographers Emma Cotter, Caron Eule, and Rebecca Whitehurst were featured in collaboration with compositions from Teresa, sOo-jung kae from Seoul, Korea and soundscape designer Paul Geluso.

Teresa was an artist resident at the Wild Meadow's Farm Collective, a part of the Field's Artward Bound program in August 2006.

Also included in Teresa's performing credits are the Advanced Acting program at A Midsummer in Oxford (Oxford University, England) in 1997 and performing with choreographer Mariangela Lopez's movement choir in The Other (New York) in 2001.

Teresa Wimmer's composition teachers have included; in Virginia, Jonathan Romeo, Anthony Kelley, Dr. Peter Knell, Dr. Allan Blank; and in New York City, Alex Chapman, Alla Borzova, and Jonathan Dawe.