Lessie Vonner is a performer, trumpeter, and educator based in the New York Metropolitan area. Hailing from Grand Prairie, Texas, Lessie’s love of music began at an early age. Having read E.B. White’s Trumpet of the Swan, Lessie was inspired to pick up the trumpet at age eleven and her love only grew. Her passion encouraged her to pursue music education at the renowned Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas and the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City.
Having developed a skillset and admiration for many different genres of music, Lessie currently performs in music scenes across the world with some of music’s biggest names. One of the highlights of her budding career is her involvement with Beyoncé's iconic 2018 Coachella performance from which Lessie received Grammy Award recognition from the artist’s award-winning music film, Homecoming (Netflix). Lessie also received Grammy recognition for her work on Jay-Z and Beyoncé's award-winning album, Everything Is Love, following her time on the couple’s On The Run ll World Tour.
Other highlights include her work Janelle Monae on her “The Age of Pleasure” run, Lizzo at the Grammys (2020), Jennifer Hudson at the Apollo (2021), the Fugees at the Global Citizens Festival (2021), Ari Lennox at Coachella (2022), and Jon Batiste for ABC’s Soul of a Nation: Sounds of Freedom (2022).
Locally, she can be seen frequently with the Broadway Sinfonietta, an all-female orchestra displaying the excellence of BIPOC women musicians on Broadway & beyond. Additionally, she performs in various jazz venues throughout New York City with her own group, the Lessie Vonner Quintet.
Lessie is also a regular on the screen, having made multiple television appearances - some of which include BET’s Black Girls Rock, the TODAY Show, the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Good Morning America, and the UrbanOne Honors.
In addition to performing and recording, Lessie teaches privately and publicly across New York City, including her work with Upbeat NYC – a program that offers no-cost music education and instruments to the youth of the South Bronx. She is also involved in the Women in Jazz Organization’s WIJO Mentor Program, designed to connect and enrich the community of women and non-binary people in Jazz.
Lessie also teachings workshops and clinics across the country - her current workshop being “An Introduction to Body Language and Movement”, speaking and demonstrating on the importance of stage presence on the stage.