Wendy Lanxner

Wendy Lanxner is a Washington area teaching artist, composer and arts-in-health practitioner, currently beginning a new career path in music therapy. She worked for several years as Musician in Residence at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, where she provided interactive bedside music sessions and drum circles for pediatric patients. Wendy has been a composer and music director for ArtStream, co-creating musicals with adults with developmental disabilities. She has provided educational programming through several agencies including Washington Performing Arts, the Folklore Society of Greater Washington, Carpe Diem Arts and Arts For The Aging. Wendy is the author of Interactive Music in Pediatrics: A Handbook for Music Practitioners, and is now completing her training in music therapy.

Wendy sings and plays bass with the band Wendy & the Lost Boys and also loves playing Irish music and jazz.  She volunteers in hospital settings through Musicians On Call. Wendy received a Master's Degree in Music Education from the University of Florida, and a B.A. in Artistic Creativity Studies from UMass/Amherst. She is a member of the National Organization of Arts in Health (NOAH).

Wendy's first instrument was the sopranino recorder, which she taught herself to play at age 10. As a high school student, she studied flute with Kathleen Trahan, worked with Dr. William Montgomery at the University of Maryland, and was a finalist in the Seventeen Magazine & General Motors National Concerto Competition. She went on to receive additional musical training at Oberlin Conservatory and the University of Massachusetts.  During college, Wendy taught herself guitar and began composing. She released her first recording in 1996, I Like It Here, and went on to join the group Bottomland, which was featured on NPR along with Wendy's song It's In The Air.  She lives in Silver Spring, MD and has two sons, Nick and Robin.

"An outstanding contribution to the literature."
JUDY ROLLINS, PhD, RN