Boston resident Wynter Pingel ’03 took a leap of faith when she left the job she enjoyed for eight years as a proofreader with National Braille Press. Pingel reflected on the uncertainty she felt at that time, but she does not regret her decision to venture on her own and make a living as a musician.

For the next eight years, she worked as a freelance fiddle and concertina (squeeze box) player in the Boston area, playing traditional Irish music. She explained how it started as a hobby to get involved with the Irish community. She joined open Irish music sessions that had one or two leaders, and other musicians could just join in and play and earn money for doing so.

In 2021, Pingel found her home with the Irish band Connacht. The five-member group provides a fresh take on traditional Irish music. Pingel shines as the group’s fiddler and concertina player, and she plays alongside talented musicians that include vocalists whose skills on button accordion, banjo and whistle, guitar and bodhran, and drums and percussion create the toe-tapping, foot stomping music that audiences love.

“Connacht is named after one of Ireland’s provinces, where several of the band members are from,” Pingel said.

Boston is a long way from the quaint Northern Wisconsin town of Woodruff where Pingel grew up. The piano and violin lessons she took as a young girl encouraged her love for music. When it came time to think more seriously about plans after high school, Pingel recalled how she felt lost.

“I was clueless,” she said. “I don’t like change, and I was not as mature as some of my peers.”

Several of her high school teachers recommended Viterbo University for its smaller size and individual attention.

“I always felt supported at Viterbo,” Pingel said, remembering how helpful Jane Eddy, the director of the Academic Resource Center, and other faculty and staff had been.

Pingel was born with retinopathy of prematurity, a disease that develops when the eyes are not fully formed. Pingel never had vision, but for a time – until her sophomore or junior year at Viterbo – she could detect light. Glaucoma eventually took away her light perception.

“Shortly after it happened, I had a voice lesson with my amazing voice teacher, Jean Saladino, and I remember her just hugging me,” Pingel said.

Pingel explained that when she had light perception, her brain filled in a lot of the blanks. Navigating the world in complete darkness became an entirely different story.

She had a guide dog named Debbie for just her last semester at Viterbo, and Debbie moved with her to Boston, and was her guide until 2011. Her next guide dog, Colbert, was just with her for several years.

“We parted ways, because Colbert would rather swim and play instead of work!” Pingel said.

Pingel gave the December 2003 graduation speech. After earning her bachelor's degree in vocal performance, she moved to Boston and earned a professional diploma in music production and engineering from Berklee College of Music.

“I had always wanted to go to Berklee College of Music,” she shared when asked about her choice in moving to Boston. Earlier, she had attended a summer program, was offered a piano scholarship, but decided to return to Viterbo and complete her degree.

“In the spring, I went back to Boston and studied music production and musical engineering at Berklee, and I’ve been here ever since,” she said.

In 2007, Pingel received the Robin Coxe-Yeldham Women in Audio award from Berklee, an annual award that recognizes and assists promising female students majoring in music production and engineering. At the Mid-Atlantic Fleadh, an Irish arts festival and competition, Pingel was named the senior champion on concertina in 2018.She is also a singer in the folk-rock band, Teddy Larkin and the Haulers.

When Pingel is not performing musically, she embraces physical activity with fitness challenges and recreational teams.

“I always liked being active, but I wasn’t into a lot of athletics, she said. “I downloaded an audio-based fitness app for blind people created by a blind Paralympic athlete. I could do the workouts at home, and I fell in love with that.”

Pingel enjoys playing on a local beep baseball team. She has completed two 5K and one 10K race, and is in training for another 5K.

Pingel works with Achilles International, an organization that has chapters all over the world.

“Achilles International facilitates running and walking for disabilities, and they pair players and participants with a guide,” she said. The community in Achilles International is amazing.”

How has the world changed over the years for Pingel? The iPhone and mobile apps are two examples.

“The iPhone has a built-in screen reader that changes the way I interact with the phone,” she said. “I can use the camera to read mail, and my GPS tells me what street I am on,” she said.

There are also apps that allow Pingel to connect to a live person whose role is a visual interpreter. The visual interpreter, who can see Pingel’s phone camera, can relay important information verbally, through describing, reading, explaining, or navigating in real-time.

“For instance, at the airport, I don’t need to wait for an assist, I can pull up and help will be there,” she said.

Pingel enjoys Boston for many reasons, including for its walkability. She lives in South Boston, and one of her favorite places there is Castle Island, a peninsula on the shore of Boston Harbor.

“It’s a bay, and you can walk around near the water,” she said. “I love it in all kinds of weather.”