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Acting Associate Principal Trumpet

Shea Kelsay

Originally from Seattle, Shea Kelsay moved to Chicago to begin her orchestral studies at Northwestern University. She completed both her undergraduate and masters degrees there, studying under Tom Rolfs, David Bilger, Michael Sachs, Channing Philbrick, and Robert Sullivan. Shea has spent summers with the Britt Festival Orchestra, the Artosphere Festival Orchestra, the Brevard Music Center, and as a Tanglewood fellow. Following her first summer at Tanglewood, she served as Acting Principal Trumpet of the Nashville Symphony. Since then, she has enjoyed an active freelancing career, playing as a substitute with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Louisville Orchestra, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Utah Symphony, and several other regional groups.  Outside of trumpet, Shea is an avid scuba diver, road-tripper, and cat lover. 


Originally from Seattle, Shea Kelsay moved to Chicago to begin her orchestral studies at Northwestern University. She completed both her undergraduate and masters degrees there, studying under Tom Rolfs, David Bilger, Michael Sachs, Channing Philbrick, and Robert Sullivan. Shea has spent summers with the Britt Festival Orchestra, the Artosphere Festival Orchestra, the Brevard Music Center, and as a Tanglewood fellow. Following her first summer at Tanglewood, she served as Acting Principal Trumpet of the Nashville Symphony. Since then, she has enjoyed an active freelancing career, playing as a substitute with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Louisville Orchestra, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Utah Symphony, and several other regional groups.  Outside of trumpet, Shea is an avid scuba diver, road-tripper, and cat lover.