Erin Wente joined the faculty at UNLV’s School of Music in 2017, where she has taught courses in music theory and ear training, music history, music literature, and music appreciation. She is the co-author of The Musical Core 101: Essential Theory and Aural Training for Musicians, published by Kendall Hunt in 2018 and employed by music fundamentals courses across the country, including at The University of Nevada, Las Vegas. In addition to her teaching assignments at UNLV, Wente works as a public relations specialist and copy editor for UNLV Professor Emeritus and composer, Virko Baley.

Prior to joining the faculty at UNLV, Wente taught K-5 elementary music with the Clark County School District. In 2013, she accepted a position with the Yamaguchi Prefectural Board of Education in Japan, where she lived and taught for two years via the prestigious Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program. During her years abroad, Wente received master-level instruction on the shamisen and koto and was able to further her ethnomusicological research into the music of East Asia, travelling extensively throughout Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.

In 2017, Wente was selected to participate in the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad, “Learning About China Through Music", in which she and a small group of Las Vegas music educators spent a month touring Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, & Nanjing as part of a curriculum development team.

Wente studied Vocal Music Education at The University of Washington, Opera Voice Performance at The University of Arizona, and East Asian Studies, with a minor in Ethnomusicology, also at The University of Arizona.