Irene Weldon earned her Master’s in Teaching from Portland State University in 1998; soon after she joined the music faculty at Warner Pacific College where she teaches private music lessons in piano and voice, as well as, classes in vocal techniques and foreign language diction.  For over five years, Irene, was a staff singer for Trinity Episcopal Cathedral Choir and Portland Symphonic Choir and additionally, was the alto section leader and soloist for the Bach Cantata Choir for its first eleven seasons, performing numerous alto arias and duets.

​

Irene has performed as soloist with the Portland Symphonic Choir, and most recently in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy with the Oregon Symphony.  Irene was chosen by Peter Schickele (PDQ Bach) to sing the role of Madam Peep in Oedipus Tex, and the Soothsayer in the oratorio, The Seasonings. Other solo engagements include the Vivaldi Gloria and Mozart Requiem, with Portland Symphonic Choir, Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, with Portland Baroque Orchestra under director Monica Huggett, Handel's Israel in Egypt with Trinity Consort, under the direction of New York, baroque harpsichordist, Eric Milnes, and Respighi's Lauda per la Nativita del Signore with Trinity Cathedral Choir and Oregon Repertory Singers.

​

Irene is comfortable with the recital format as a pianist, accompanist and vocalist and has performed numerous times with popular local chamber groups, including Marten King, clarinetist and Michael Liu, pianist for the Vancouver Symphony in performances at the Terwilliger Plaza, Classic Pianos, Sherman Clay Pianos, Astoria’s Liberty Theater and the Cascadia Composers national convention.

​

In her early years, Irene had was mainly a self-taught pianist.  However, as a young mother she enrolled in private piano lessons, honing her skills and then studied the pipe organ.   After returning to college she discovered that in addition to playing the piano, she loved singing.  From then on she focused on developing her voice in addition to her piano amd oregon skills, and Irene went on to perform with the Rogue Valley Opera as Thisbe in La Cenerentola, Flora in La Traviata and Zita in Gianni Schicchi, and sang with the Southern Oregon Repertory Singers before relocating to Portland.

​

Irene specializes in teaching younger and older students to play and sing.  She looks forward to sharing the gift of music with her students.