Biography

Ms. Bentley is currently the Second Horn of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. She has made orchestral appearances with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and New World Symphony and from 2019-2021 was the Second Horn of the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera.

With playing lauded by ArtsKnoxville as “impressive” and “lovely,” she is the premiere soloist of “Nowhere to Hide” by Alice Jones and is a featured soloist on the Maryland Chamber Winds upcoming album. Kelsey also performs with OceanWay Studios in Nashville, TN for film & video game soundtracks as well as live shows for popular recording artists and has been a faculty member of the Bay View Music Festival.

Kelsey received her Master of Music degree in Horn Performance under the tutelage of Professor Michael Thornton at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music. Her Bachelor of Music degree was earned cum laude from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Randy Gardner and Elizabeth Freimuth. She has had additional studies with John Zirbel of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and was awarded fellowships by the Aspen Music Festival.

Outside of performing, Kelsey enjoys hiking and spending time with her family, including her two dogs Dolly and Bruno.