About

Hailing from Northern California, Ella Hebrard is a current student at the University of Michigan, pursuing a master’s degree in bassoon performance. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music from the University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music in 2023, and is working her way towards a career in the performing arts.

Ella’s experience includes years of chamber and ensemble work. She was the bassoonist and a founding member of the Delta Wind Quintet, which was active from 2019 until 2023. Additionally, in January 2023, she was part of a bassoon quartet premiering a piece at the Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition and Symposium. Since then, she has been continuing to learn and perform in chamber music groups and exploring chamber music with vocalists. Ella considers the highlight of her orchestral experiences so far to be her travels in the Czech Republic as part of the 2022 and 2023 Prague Summer Nights Festival. This included orchestra concerts with repertoire including Brahms, Dvorak, and Sibelius, as well as chamber concerts in the Rudolfinum. She also played in the pit for opera performances of Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni in the historic Estates Theater.

While developing herself as an ensemble musician, she has also explored forms of performance that could be considered less traditional than an orchestra or band setting can offer. Her desire to engage with her music in a way that involves more than just a stage and a passive audience led her to create interdisciplinary projects with her peers to incorporate musical performances with other creative and artistic elements. Her most significant project thus far is “The Melody,” which is a live performance of an original short story accompanied by a chamber group and projected visuals. Other projects include “Connecting…” (this was created during the COVID lockdown), a virtual showcase of art and fashion contributed by people from her hometown. She has also dipped her toes into the world of electronic and amplified bassoon music; she is incredibly proud of having secured funding to purchase an electric bocal for the University of the Pacific in order to include music for two electric bassoons and percussion in her undergraduate senior recital.