Grace O’Connell

Rising Star Recital 

Grace O’Connell is a multifaceted artist deeply dedicated to her craft through solo performance, orchestral playing, chamber music and pedagogy. This dedication to artistic versatility has led her to her current role as a fellow with Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect program where she joins a cohort of young musicians dedicated to community engagement and creative mastery. Grace has performed with premier ensembles including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the Knights. She frequently performs with orchestral trumpet sections including the Nashville Symphony, Huntsville Symphony, Greenwich Symphony, Princeton Symphony, Riverside Symphony, New York Classical Players and others in addition to being the Co-Principal trumpet of the New Hampshire Music Festival. Grace has been a guest artist with the Manchester Music Festival and the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival. Always a dynamic soloist, Grace is an active recitalist and competitor in national and international competitions. 

A highly sought after teacher, Grace has given masterclasses at institutions including University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Lipscomb University and more. Through her work with Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, Grace has taught in New York City public schools as a way to bring a creative-based teaching style into music classrooms.

Most recently, Grace was named the first place winner of the Roger Voisin Memorial Trumpet Competition (2024) and was a finalist in the Ellsworth Smith Competition. She was also named the first place winner in the International Trumpet Guild Solo Division (2023), MTNA Young Artist Solo Division (2022), as well as the National Trumpet Competition Undergraduate Division (2022). She has recently been a featured soloist with the Yale Philharmonia and Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Eastern Music Festival Orchestra, Southern Stars Symphonic Brass Band, Middle Tennessee Sinfonietta and more. In 2021 and 2023, Grace was the recipient of two separate URECA Grants from Middle Tennessee State University, aiding her in completing several solo trumpet recordings for digital release.

Grace holds a Master of Music from Yale University and a Bachelor of Music from Middle Tennessee State University. She has studied with John Aley, Kevin Cobb and Michael Arndt.