Chelsey Hill is an illustrator with a love of old-school glamour, irreverent humor, and bright colors. Her works are often inspired by eccentric New Yorkers, off-beat Nebraskans, and legendary musicians and performers. Chelsey specializes in (and absolutely adores) creating illustrations for music and theater organizations.
Born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, Chelsey comes from an eclectic and large family chock-full of professional artists and classical musicians. Her love of the performing arts was cultivated at a very early age by her parents and grandparents.
Chelsey is a light lyric soprano (before coffee) with a degree in musical theater and music. While in college, Chelsey worked in a costume shop where she fell in love with costume design and learned figure drawing. Chelsey moved to New York City to pursue singing but soon found that she spent all her time drawing people, rodents, and pigeons, particularly on the subway.
Chelsey has worked in a multitude of performing arts-based organizations, most recently as a wardrobe dresser for the Metropolitan Opera. Through this position, she became the illustrator for the Met Opera Chorus. Chelsey creates works regularly for The Boulanger Initiative, an organization that advocates for women and all gender marginalized composers, through performance, education, research, consulting, and commissions. The Boulanger Initiative launched a national campaign in 2021 with Chelsey’s Women Composers Alphabet poster, as an effort to normalize seeing women in music classrooms across the country.