Music Director for the Palomar Symphony Orchestra
Multi-winds/Pianist/Ethnomusicologist/Improvisor/Composer Ellen Weller is an active member of San Diego’s Trummerflora Collective and was one of the original members of Maiden Voyage, an all-female big band. Weller has performed with: George Lewis, Mark Dresser, Bert Turetzky, Vinny Golia, Muhal Richard Abrams, Lisle Ellis, Vanessa Tomlinson, Mike Wofford, Holly Hofmann, Joe Marillo, Anthony Davis, David Borgo, Jason Robinson, Nathan Hubbard, Lesli Dalaba, Carla Kihlstadt, Hans Fjellestad, Michael Dessen, Farhad Bahrami, and the Second Avenue Klezmer Ensemble.
She has organized and/or appeared at major festivals, including the SF Alt Festival, the Spring Reverb (San Diego), Long Beach Sound Walk, and the Big Sur Sound Shift. She recently organized FINC, the Faculty Improvisers of North County, toured Japan in 2009 with electronic musician/percussionist Marcos Fernandes, and annually organizes a community performance of Phil Kline’s “Unsilent Night” in San Diego.
Weller has two CDs on the Circumvention label, “Spirits, Little Dreams and Improvisations (2004)” and “Point of Contact (2008).” Her compositions includes works for solo piano, flute, voice, and chamber ensembles, some exploring improvisation and graphic notation, and have been performed in New York, Detroit, San Diego and Los Angeles. Recent works include “1918: for two pianos and community” and incidental music to “Angels in America”.
Currently Associate Professor of World Music at Palomar College, Weller received her Masters in Music Composition from Queens College, CUNY, and the PhD from UCSD. Past research has focused on multicultural performance, arts funding, cultural tourism, and the music of war.
