The Artist
Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Inger who had a dream. At first, her dream was to be the best guitar player in the whole wide world. Every time she saw a ladybug, she would make a wish, "Please God, let me become the best guitarist in the whole wide world." At the age of nine, she began practising on her mom's old Pan acoustic guitar, soon to switch to a new classical guitar. Thereafter, she played hours, days, months and years.
Amongst others, she studied with Claude Reid at l'École de musique Vincent d'Indy, Jean Vallières at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, Peter McCutcheon at McGill, as well as with the virtuoso Alvaro Pierri. Under his tutelage, she completed her Bachelor's degree in classic guitar performance at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) in 1994, performing mostly her own compositions. By this time, Inger was in her twenties. She had also begun teaching guitar at l'École de musique Vincent d'Indy.
But Inger was getting restless. She was tired of dressing in all-black, sitting down in serious concert settings, allowing only for classical music. She had something more to say. Heck, she needed to stand up and holler at the top of her lungs! After one of her singing lessons with voice teacher, Trisha Pope, and after reading the book, Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, under the same teacher's recommendations, the song and the album Wild Woman was born:
I used to be a nice girl
I used to be polite
You would have sworn
That I was made of sugar and spice
All the teachers loved me
When I was in school
I did just what they told me
And I followed all the rules
I used to be a good girl
I used to be afraid
I used to keep my mouth shut
Oh, I was so well behaved
All the parents praised me
They said I was a jewel
They never had to scold me
'Cause I followed all the rules
But now, I'm a wild woman
Yes, I know I am
I'm a wild woman
Catch me, if you can
I look in the mirror
And what do I see?
I see a wild woman
Looking back at me
Now I shout my guts out
Show you how I feel
This ain't now PMS baby
This is for real
I ain't no Cinderella
I ain't no femme fatale
I ain't no sleeping beauty
And I ain't no Barbie doll
"Wild Woman"
Lyrics and music ©1995 Inger Woest / Inger Woest and Christian Morisset
During the years that followed, Inger studied pop singing and songwriting at Pro Chant, Option-Voix in Montreal and at the École nationale de chanson de Granby. She went on to win prizes in national and international song competitions, write music for television (Radio Canada), do concerts and teach. In 2003 she moved to Bromont, where she produced the Wild Woman album. Today, Inger continues to compose, teach, (Guit-art libre and École de musique classique in Granby) and to perform. She also continues to hone her vocal technique, studying classical voice with the coleratura, Adrienne Savoie.