About

Crystal Wood is a Chicago native who grew up with music in her blood.  At the age of 10 she started her traditional music training, and continued throughout her life. She attended the United States Merchant Marine Academy in NY, and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke in NC.  Crystal is a trained oboist and voice instructor who also teaches very beginning piano and violin for the “newest aspiring virtuosos.”  

Most recently Crystal has been working as a vocalist and outreach coordinator for the nonprofit CAMMO (Center for American Military Music Opportunities).  Under CAMMO, she performs nationwide with the groups “Voices of Service” and the “American Military Spouses Choir.”  Screen credits include America’s Got Talent Season 8, the Military Channel, Hallmark Home and Family, the PBS Kennedy Center Lincoln Awards, Oprah’s Life You Want Tour and the Queen Latifah show.  In addition to her screen credits, she also travels the country with the American Military Spouses Choir and has performed at such venues as the Kennedy Center, Sea World, the Pearl Harbor Memorial, Radio City Music Hall, and Capital Records with artists such as the Cincinnati Pops, Jewel, Aloe Blacc, Chris Botti, David Foster, Arturo Sandoval, Chaka Khan, as well as many others. In addition to CAMMO, Crystal is also a member of the group Deep River Singers, which recently performed at Carnegie Hall in NYC. Deep River Singers promotes the history of African American spirituals and repertoire, and performs nationwide at various events and venues.

One of the most rewarding roles she currently serves in is as co-director/teacher for a children’s choir called “CAMMO Kids.”  “CAMMO Kids” is a completely volunteer run children’s choir that offers music education for the children of military families for free.  This is a cause that is very near to her heart because she was an active-duty Army spouse for 20 years and is a mother to a seventeen-year-old daughter. Crystal also has been a music teacher for the Metropolitan School of the Arts in Alexandria, Virginia; Music and Arts in Fayetteville, NC; and Cumberland County Schools in NC where she was a finalist for the 2023 Beginner Teacher of the Year award.

Overall, Crystal believes that music fundamentals are critical and lay the foundation to becoming a successful musician. Perhaps more important, Crystal believes that music should be FUN and engaging.  She is full of energy and strives to not only teach the technical aspects of music education, but constantly encourages students to go above and beyond what they thought they were capable of.  Music not only develops the mind, but also touches the soul.