Elisha K. Wells is currently serving as the Director of Bands, Brass and Music Theory at Fresno City College, and is Horn Faculty at Cazadero Music Camp during summers. Prior to serving at Fresno City College, Elisha was the Horn Instructor at Sacramento State, Stanislaus State, Delta College, College of Sequoias, and the Music Director and Conductor of the Visalia Opera Company. In addition to teaching at Fresno City College, Ms. Wells currently serves as Principal Horn in the Sequoia Symphony, Wind Symphony of Clovis, and is a regular with the Fresno Philharmonic. Her collegiate studies are extensive, having studied at Chapman University in Orange, CA and University of Houston in Houston, TX. Her formal studies include a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts with an emphasis in Horn Performance from California State University, Fresno.
Elisha’s professional conducting opportunities have allowed her to conduct collegiate and secondary wind ensembles, but her professional conducting career began with the Visalia Opera Company in 2013. During her time with the VOC, Ms. Wells produced and directed Bizet’s Carmen, Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, and an original Mariachi Opera named El Bracero. She has also been fortunate to work with Opera Modesto, Modesto Symphony Youth Orchestra, and the League of Christian Actors in Visalia, CA in Les Miserables.
In addition to her conducting career, Elisha has served as a featured horn soloist in many professional settings. Between June 2002 and December 2003, she performed as a horn soloist in the Tony Award-winning Broadway show, “Blast!”. In April 2012, Elisha was chosen to become a member of a performing group called The Edge, and was able to compete in the nationally televised talent show called America’s Got Talent in New York. She is an international soloist, having performed in Australia, Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic, and she continually performs solos throughout the west coast with both orchestras and wind ensembles.
Additionally, she has had the privilege of playing in accompanying orchestras for world-renown artists such as Natalie Cole, Johnny Mathis, Renee Fleming, Andrea Bocelli, Jackie Evancho, Johnny Mathis, Branford Marsalis, Juan Diego Florez, Sarah Chang, Jon Nakamatsu, Airborne Toxic Event and Mannheim Steamroller.
Elisha feels fortunate to have studied with world-class hornists such as Brian Drake (LA Phil), Nancy Goodearl (Houston Symphony), Dr. Tom Hiebert (Fresno State), and David Krehbiel (formerly, San Francisco Symphony).
Ms. Wells is a performing artist that is deeply committed to music education through her membership to the California Music Educators Association, Fresno-Madera Music Educators Association, College Band Directors National Association, International Horn Society and the Musicians Union Local 12. She has been invited as a clinician, guest speaker and presenter giving lectures on horn pedagogy and peak performance practices across the state of California, and is the founder and director of Happy Horn Boot Camp. She also teaches a private horn studio with students from Visalia, Fresno, Clovis, Turlock, Modesto and Sacramento.