Tessa Ellis

Ms. Ellis earned both the degree of Bachelor of Music and a Community Artist Fellowship Diploma at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she was a student of David Bilger, who was then principal trumpet of the Philadelphia Orchestra.  Inspired by a lifelong drive to create new and nuanced sounds, her work spans orchestral, chamber, and experimental music.  She has performed with Seraph Brass, the Philadelphia Ballet Orchestra, the Kennett Symphony, and the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, and has toured with Hans Zimmer Live and Star Trek: The Cruise.  She is a founding member of the Arcana New Music Ensemble and frequently collaborates across genres with the People’s Music Supply and several Philadelphia-based bands.

Ms. Ellis teaches trumpet at Settlement Music School and Swarthmore College, and also supports neurodivergent musicians as an ADHD coach — a path supported by a Young Alumni Fund grant from Curtis.