Betsy Hamill is a passionate educator, composer, recording artist, and performance artist based in Flagstaff, AZ. She is an arts educator at the Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy (FALA), where for the past 13 years she has built a unique and progressive music program. Instead of traditional ensembles, Betsy created the FALA Global Music’s Ensemble, and Falunk, a funk and jazz fusion ensemble. These innovative groups, along with her other music classes, have distinguished FALA as a dynamic, globally inspired music program. Many of her students have gone on to attend prestigious music schools nationwide.

In addition to music, Betsy teaches dance, co-teaching under her teacher, Gabriel Fara Tolno leading the popular West African Drum and Dance Ensemble.

As a composer, producer, and performing artist, Betsy continues to develop her own creative work. She recently collaborated on a project in which she composed the score for an aerial performance with a former colleague, blending live music and movement in a striking interdisciplinary piece She released her debut EDM album entitled “Mother told us to dance” last year under her artist name BetsyVee, and she will be releasing her second album this fall.

Betsy studied French horn at Carnegie Mellon University and earned a BFA from California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), focusing on Ewe drumming and dance from Ghana. She has studied under renowned master drummers and dancers, including Alfred Ladzekpo and Maputo Mensah (Ghana), Djeneba Sako (Mali), and Fara Tolno (Guinea), and has performed with the troupes Logo Ligi, Kuma Tunyale, and Kissidugu 2. She was recently accepted into the CalArts MFA program in Experimental Composition and Sound Practices, where she will continue to explore the intersection of music, movement, and innovative sound art.