Denise D’Amour, born and raised in Massachusetts, retired to Wilmington in the Fall of 2019 after nearly 30 years in the Washington DC area. Denise spent the first part of her career working as an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board.
In 2000, she left the practice of law to open a bicycle shop in DC’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. At the time cycling had become a passion, which she turned into a business selling and servicing bicycles. Denise comes from a retail background, having grown up in the supermarket business in Massachusetts. While that trade didn’t directly translate to operating a bike shop, the traditions of customer service and community instilled in childhood went a long way towards the success of Capitol Hill Bikes. She sold the business in early 2018.
The Wilmington community has been very welcoming and wonderful, giving her the opportunity to pursue other passions. While Denise has little formal musical training, outside of self-taught guitar and belting out Janis Joplin songs, she jumped at the chance to sing with the Encore Chorale for Older Adults when they launched the Cape Fear chapter in the winter of 2023. It was then that Denise met Angela Burns, founder and artistic director of Wilmington Voices, who also conducted the Encore Chorale.
Denise is delighted to join the Wilmington Voices board and to bring her entrepreneurial and legal experience to promoting the exceptional performances of Wilmington Voices to the greater southeast NC region.