Cellist Tanya Ell, enjoys a varied career as a chamber musician, soloist, and member of The Cleveland Orchestra. Since winning the position in 2006, she has been privileged to tour the world’s greatest concert halls with the orchestra, including Carnegie Hall, Vienna’s Musikverein, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Royal Albert Hall, and Avery Fisher Hall. With TCO, she has also taken part in many prestigious festivals, including the BBC Proms, the Salzburg Festival, the Lucerne Festival, and the Edinburgh Festival.

Tanya is a founding member of the Omni String Quartet, which has been featured in concert by the Cleveland Orchestra at the United States Consulate in Bratislava, on WCLV Radio at Cleveland State University, and at Kent State University. She has collaborated with such notable musicians as William Preucil, Donald and Vivienne Weilerstein, Edgar Meyer, members of the Cavani String Quartet, and with her husband, Cleveland Orchestra clarinetist, Robert Woolfrey. In recent years she has soloed with the Cleveland Philharmonic, the Suburban Symphony, the Cleveland State University Symphony, and the Lansing Symphony.

Tanya received her Bachelor of Music at the Juilliard School under Aldo Parisot. While finishing her Master’s Degree with Richard Aaron at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Tanya won a position with the Milwaukee Symphony, and was appointed Acting Assistant Principal a year later. She was invited to solo with the MSO twice during her tenure there.

Tanya grew up in Okemos MI, and studied in the Suzuki program with Marilyn Kesler, and later with Louis Potter Jr. from age 8-18. Her musician parents, Frank and Eva Ell have also been very important musical influences throughout her life. She won her first competition at the age of 12, and continued to win top prizes at competitions across the country that often resulted in concerto performances and scholarships to summer music festivals.

Tanya plays a David Burgess cello from 1992, as well as a Tyrolean Cello from 1864. She resides in Cleveland, Ohio with her husband, son and daughter.