We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ella Grace a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ella, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

One of the most meaningful projects I have worked on recently has been my undergraduate senior thesis project entitled Psyche of a Jazzwoman: Gendered Psychological Barriers to Jazz Participation. I started playing jazz trumpet in high school and since then, it has been hard to ignore the fact that I’m often the only woman in the bands I play in. My freshman year of college, I decided to research gender disparity in jazz, but found limited existing academic literature on the subject. This inspired me to conduct my own survey of musicians exploring gendered psychological barriers to jazz participation, which became the basis of the thesis project I just completed. My study showed that across the board, female musicians experience negative psychological barriers to jazz participation at higher rates than their male peers. This includes things like tokenism, stereotype threat, low self-efficacy, imposter phenomenon, and sexual harassment. I was able to also explore some potential interventions in the project as well, culminating in an 88 page research paper. My research has since been used by community music school Walker West to get grant funding for programs aimed at young female musicians, proving the value of this kind of data. I am also honored to have recently won the First Place Sloane Prize in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Undergraduate Research for this project at the 2024 National Collegiate Honors Conference. I hope to continue researching this subject and contributing to music academia and pedagogy while helping move jazz and other genres toward gender parity.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a performer, composer, educator, and producer based between Minnesota and Chicago, IL. I grew up in Minnesota, benefiting from playing in the state’s most salient youth ensembles, before moving to Chicago to continue my musical studies at DePaul University. I now work primarily as a freelance trumpeter, teaching private lessons, recording, and performing live in a variety of styles including jazz, r&b, salsa, ambient, and rock. I work both as a sidewoman and bandleader of a small group that performs my own original contemporary jazz compositions throughout the Midwest. I also enjoy music journalism, hosting a weekly radio show, writing articles for a weekly music newsletter, and working as Web News Director for Radio DePaul.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think the most direct way to support artists, creatives, and a thriving creative ecosystem, is via injection of capital, whether that be in the form of donations, grants, other funding, or just buying art, cds, merch, or tickets. I have been extremely lucky to benefit from winning several grants and scholarships that have allowed me to pursue my craft as well as a strong fanbase support system. I truly would not be able to do what I do without funding and the support of generous patrons!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Being a musical artist is incredibly fulfilling for me. I feel rewarded when I am able to bring my musical ideas to fruition in performance and when I get the opportunity to realize my own compositions with other talented musicians. I feel rewarded when I can help a student grow and develop a passion for music. I feel rewarded when I get to play my music for others, when I can get them up on their feet and dancing or bring them to tears, and when I hear from audience members after a show how the music moved them. I truly feel so lucky and grateful that I get to do something everyday that brings me joy and fulfillment.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ellagrace16.wixsite.com/ella-grace-music
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ella.grace.music/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ella.grace.96780671
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb8gPqgwXqhHeTovnlxreFA
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ellas_music
• Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6FrNPbgDC0VutUJFRgLzje?si=lOSmsAd0TqK8lo_Xl-Yxsw&nd=1&dlsi=7ac2e4432103410d
  Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/ella-grace/1682775115