Ms. Thayer's most recent guest conducting included concerts with the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra in December, 2001. Her choirs from Smith College presented concert tours in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Italy and Austria. She has directed choruses for the former Florida Symphony Orchestra and the Orlando Opera Company. She has served as guest conductor of the Springfield Symphony and she conducted both the orchestra and chorus twice during the 1994-95 season.

A native of Massachusetts, she completed her undergraduate degree in voice and piano at the University of Massachusetts and did her graduate work at Indiana University School of Music. She has studied with the late Julius Herford and Margaret Hillis, conductor emeritus of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chorus. She received scholarships to continue her studies at the Aspen Music Festival with John Nelson, Helmuth Rilling and others.  In 1994,  she was selected to study Mendelssohn's Elijah with the late Robert Shaw, conductor emeritus of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Prof. Thayer is a member of the Music Educators National Conference, Wisconsin Music Educators Association, American Choral Directors Association, and the International Federation for Choral Music. She recently completed her eighth year on the board of the Wisconsin Choral Directors Association. having served as a district representative, President-Elect, President, and Past President.  She holds membership in honorary societies, including Pi Kappa Lambda and Phi Eta Sigma, and is an honorary member of Sigma Alpha Iota.

In the spring of 2000, Prof. Thayer was nominated by the UWSP Student Government Association for an Excellence in Teaching award.   She remains active as a guest conductor and adjudicator.  She served as a member of an international panel of judges for an international choral competition in Verona, Italy in the spring of 2006, 2008 and 2009.  In the spring of 2007 , she served as the leader for UWSP's Semester Abroad study program in London.