Harper College will be closed Monday, September 1, in observance of Labor Day.
Wen Chin Liu, joining Harper College team as Director of Choirs in Fall 2025, is also artistic director of Heritage Chorale in Oak Park, lecturer at Benedictine University in Lisle, and music coordinator at Lutheran Church of the Cross in Arlington Heights. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting and pedagogy at the University of Iowa with Drs. Timothy Stalter and David Puderbaugh.
Wen Chin began her music education in her native Malaysia with piano lessons at the age of seven. She graduated as a piano major from University College Sedaya International (UCSI) in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in classical music. At that time, she also obtained her Trinity College Piano Licentiate in Music Diploma and Trinity Guildhalls Vocal Performance Certificate, both with distinction. In 2009, she came to the United States to pursue her master’s degree in choral conducting at Bowling Green State University, graduating in 2011.
Wen Chin is an active performer. She has been a chorister with several choirs that won international competitions throughout Asia, such as the Voyage of Song International Choral Competition in Pattaya, Thailand, First Asian Choir Games, Jakarta in Indonesia, Oriental Concentus International Choral Festival in China, and the Busan Choral Competition in Korea. She has sung with Bach Festival Malaysia, performing the Mass in B Minor, the St. Matthew Passion, and several cantatas. She sang in Canticum Novum’s recording project on the music of Horatio Parker and performed with the University of Iowa’s Kantorei in 2017–2020. Among other musical engagements, she served as the collaborative pianist with the Downers Grove Choral Society in the 2021–2022 season, directed Take Note ensemble in Lisle for seasons 2021-2024, and the music academy supervisor at Project 88 Music Academy in Berwyn for seasons 2021-2025.
Wen Chin began her career as a music educator in 2005 at the Young Choral Academy in Malaysia, where she served as choir director, director of musicals, pianist, and vocal tutor. As a graduate assistant at Bowling Green State University, she conducted an ensemble ‘the Fermatas’ for two years. From 2011 to 2015, she was the music director at St. Ursula Academy (Toledo, Ohio). During the summers of 2017–2019, she was guest conductor for the Malaysia Institute of Arts choruses in performances that included Haydn’s Missa Brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo and Vivaldi’s Gloria. She has also frequently led choral workshops and served as juror for choral competitions in Malaysia. Most recently in May 2025, Wen Chin made her Carnegie Hall debut with Heritage Chorale, together with four other choirs, conducting Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de Confessore, K. 339.
Given the experiences in the musical journey, Wen Chin is excited for the opportunity at Harper College and hoping to bring forth her knowledge in choral singing and her interest in music from various regions towards the community of Palatine.