MICHELLE WACHTER

A joyful advocate for the transformative power of the arts in our communities, MICHELLE WACHTER, DMA, NCTM, currently serves as Executive Director of Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra. 

Wachter’s diverse career includes roles in education, nonprofit arts administration, collaborative performance, and leadership, including her tenure as Associate Teaching Professor at Northern Arizona University (2015–2023), where she specialized in group piano and piano pedagogy, coordinated the piano area of the NAU Community Music and Dance Academy, and supervised graduate assistants in group piano. In her current position with Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, Wachter spearheads strategic planning, financial stewardship, fundraising, community outreach, audience development, and marketing, helping ensure that live classical music remains widely accessible to our community.

Wachter’s career is marked by a commitment to fostering inclusive artistic opportunities and equitable access to music education and arts-based programming. As an educator, Wachter has extensive experience teaching piano to students of all ages and levels in both group and private lessons. She has also served as a frequent adjudicator at festivals and competitions throughout Arizona. Wachter served on the teaching faculty of Flagstaff Piano Festival in 2022 and 2023, and she is honored to return this year.

Dedicated to excellence in research and pedagogy, Wachter has presented at the MTNA National Conference, the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, MTNA’s National Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy Forum (GP3), and many regional, state, and local conferences. Her articles have appeared in American Music Teacher, Clavier Companion, and the MTNA e-Journal, and she is editor of the 2013, 2015, and 2017 Proceedings of the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy. Wachter is a longtime member of the Music Teachers National Association and has served in leadership roles at local and state levels. She is active as a collaborative pianist, and serves on several community and advisory boards in Arizona, supporting arts advocacy and engagement throughout the state. 

Wachter holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano pedagogy from the University of South Carolina, where she studied piano with Dr. Joseph Rackers and piano pedagogy with Dr. Scott Price. She holds a master’s degree in piano performance from the University of South Carolina, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in both music and English from Messiah University in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, where her professors included Rebecca Wilt and Ya-Ting Chang.