Elisha K. Wells is the Director of Band, Brass, and Orchestra at Fresno City College, and currently serves as the Conductor of the Modesto Symphony Youth Orchestra. Before serving at FCC, Elisha was the Horn Instructor and Lecturer at Sacramento State, Stanislaus State, Delta College, College of Sequoias (Visalia & Hanford), Conductor of the Visalia Opera Company, and was Horn Faculty at Cazadero Music Camp (2015-2019). Ms. Wells regularly serves as Acting Principal with the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra, freelances with other regional orchestras in California such as Stockton Symphony, and sits Principal Horn in Sequoia Symphony, and Wind Symphony of Clovis. Elisha performed as a Horn soloist and dancer in the Tony Award-winning Broadway show, “Blast!” from 2002-2003. She has also performed throughout California and Nevada, Walt Disney World in Florida, Australia, Germany, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and the West Coast as a horn soloist.

Ms. Wells served as the Music Director & Conductor for the Visalia Opera Company from 2012 to 2015, and has been asked to serve as the Guest Conductor for FMCMEA (Fresno-Madera Cty), TKMEA (Tulare/Kings Cty), Sonoma County CMEA (Bay Section CMEA), KCMEA (Kern Cty), Visalia All-District, Fresno All-District, and SCMEA (Stanislaus Cty), for both Junior High and High School Honor Bands and Orchestras. Elisha is currently the President of CMEA Central Section (Merced/ Mariposa to Kern County) and past President of Friends of the Arts at FCC. Elisha regularly adjudicates All-State & Regional Honor Band auditions. She is also a member of the Local 12 Musicians Union, NAfME, CBDNA, the International Horn Society, and is a noted Artist and Endorser of Robinson’s Remedies-Lip Renew. 

Elisha studied at Chapman University in Orange, CA, and the University of Houston in Houston, TX briefly. However, her formal studies include a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts with an emphasis in Horn Performance from California State University, Fresno (2009).

Ms. Wells feels fortunate to have studied with world-class hornists such as Brian Drake (LA Phil), Nancy Goodearl (Houston Symphony), Dr. Tom Hiebert (Fresno State), David Krehbiel (San Francisco Symphony), and reveres Dr. Larry Sutherland, Dr. Gary Gilroy, Dr. Leanna Primiani, and Professor John Kosher as conducting inspirations and former instructors.