Dr. Michelle Kesler is Assistant Professor of Cello at Brigham Young University. She has distinguished herself as a chamber musician and soloist in a wide number of performances in Europe, the US, and New Zealand. She has performed with the Beethoven festival in Park City, and has worked with quartets such as the Orion, New Zealand String Quartet, St. Lawrence, Takacs, Tokyo, and Brentano String Quartets.

Michelle is a sought-after clinician, having conducted master classes for aspiring young artists throughout the U.S and abroad. Her students have found success continuing their studies at prestigious graduate schools and winning regional and national competitions.  She is also an active orchestral musician and has played with orchestras around the United States.

Michelle is passionate about new music and is actively commissioning, performing and premiering new works. During the summer she has taught at The Vianden International music festival in Luxembourg as well as the Young Musician’s music festival held at Brigham Young University. In Fall 2018 she was the National Parks Artist-In-Residence at two National Historic Sites and Monuments, Hubbell Trading Post, and Canyon de Chelly in Northeastern Arizona where she gave performances and taught in the local schools.

She was recently invited to give a lecture recital at the College Music Society’s conference in 2017 featuring works inspired by the Grand Canyon.

Before joining the faculty at the University, she received her bachelors degree at the University of Colorado in Boulder studying with Judith Glyde, and Andras Fejer of the Takacs quartet. She received her Doctoral and Masters degree at Arizona State University studying with Thomas Landschoot. While pursuing her masters and doctorate degrees, she has enjoyed performing with the Phoenix Symphony, The Arizona Opera, and the Phoenix Opera Company. She is currently a member of the Deseret String Quartet.