Piano and Voice Instructor

Tessa O'Connell is a pianist, vocalist and composer in Chicago. After studying classical piano and voice growing up, she pursued her undergraduate degree in Music Composition from Tulane University as a recipient of the Dean's Honor Scholarship. At Tulane, she researched musical creativity in early childhood for her honors thesis, and was recognized as the Newcomb-Tulane College Senior Honors Scholar in Music for this research.

Today, she performs and records regularly with her own indie folk project (synthesizers, piano, lead vocals, songwriting) and with rock band Cusp (synthesizers, piano, backing vocals). The most recent LP by Cusp was acclaimed by Pitchfork (Best of 2025), Chicago Reader, KEXP, Post-Trash (Best of 2025), and Stereogum. She also composes and records music for independent film and media projects.

As a teacher, she values collaboration and creativity, and loves learning about her students' own musical interests to best tailor lessons to them. She believes in building music theory skills from a young age and encourages students to ask questions about technique so they can develop a deep understanding of their instrument.