Élise Ming Chu Roy is a composer, improviser, and flutist described as exhibiting “superhuman control and stamina over every note, gliss, click and hum…utterly spellbinding” (New Classic LA).

Her music is characterized by complex sound worlds of layered instrumental sounds, extended techniques, and audio from sources as diverse as NASA space missions and field recordings from the Berlin Nature Archives of elephants.

Élise has recently premiered works by composers such as Erik Ulman and Jeffrey Holmes, and she has been commissioned by ensembles such as the LA Phil, gnarwhallaby, Brightwork ensemble, and the SPLICE ensemble. Her music has been performed at festivals all over the world including PAS-E (Venice, Italy), SEAMUS (Blacksburg, Virginia), and NYCEMF (New York City), and she is a recipient of the ASCAP/SEAMUS commissioning award.

She was an associate director of the wasteLAnd concert series and a flutist in the wasteLAnd ensemble for three seasons.  Élise has taught electronic music and coached chamber music at the SPLICE Institute, Chapman University, and the New Mexico School for the Arts, where she was also instructor of flute and coordinator of the instrumental performance program.

Currently, Élise is a lecturer in flute at the University of Colorado—Colorado Springs, as well as a co-director of the Tiny Backpack concert series in Pasadena, California.

Élise is a graduate of Oberlin College and Conservatory, where she earned double undergraduate degrees in neuroscience and flute performance studying under Michel Debost and Kathleen Chastain.  She completed her graduate work at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), where she earned a Master of Fine Arts in flute performance studying under Rachel Rudich.  She also has studied improvisation under Vinny Golia and composition under Erik Ulman.