Sarah Wigley

Sarah Wigley is a Clinical Associate Professor of Voice and Resident Director in the Department of Lyric Theatre at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. She teaches courses such as Lyric Theatre Studio, Musical Theatre Repertoire, and Contemporary Graduate Voice, while maintaining a studio with over 20 students. Her roles include stage directing opera and musical theatre productions, with notable credits including City of Angels, Fun Home, La Boheme, and collaborations with Nathan Gunn. She also serves as President of the Illinois Chapter of the National Society of Arts and Letters and Development Liaison for the Central Region of the National Association for Teachers of Singing.

Ms. Wigley holds an MM in Voice Performance from Colorado State University and a BM in Voice from the University of Minnesota. Her professional experience includes performances with major institutions like the Guthrie Theatre, Minnesota Opera, and Skylark Opera, alongside roles in Man of LaMancha, Jekyll and Hyde, and Clue-The Musical.

Her research focuses on contemporary voice techniques, crossover training, and genre adaptation for singers. She presents workshops internationally, addressing topics such as Crossing Over: Contemporary Voice Technique for Solo and Ensemble Singing and Crossing Genres: A Classical Singer’s Guide to Jazz. Notable contributions include co-creating Franc D’Ambrosio’s touring show Beyond the Chandelier.

In her advising and teaching career, Wigley has mentored students who have achieved success on Broadway and in national tours. She actively engages with arts education through affiliations like the Estill World Voice Symposium and the International Congress of Voice Teachers. Her work bridges academic pedagogy with professional performance training in musical theatre and opera.