Emily Mikesell is a Los Angeles based trumpeter and composer and is an Adams artist. Raised in a musical family in Orlando, Florida, she started playing the trumpet at the age of 11, and went on to study Jazz at Florida State University (BA) and the University of New Orleans (MA).  During her time at FSU, she performed at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola in New York City and participated in Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead, in which she performed at The Kennedy Center and The Apollo Theater. She also performed as a member of the Disney All-American College Band at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.

After college, Emily moved to New Orleans and played professionally all over the city and abroad for 8 years. While in New Orleans she played regularly with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra and Trumpet Mafia as well as many other bands. She recently played at Bonnaroo with Neal Francis and has played with the Dee Dee Bridgewater Big Band at the Kennedy Center and the Detroit Jazz Festival, as well as Lonnie Holley at the Musicbox Village in New Orleans. She has also played with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Ravinia Festival and Jazz Ascona in Switzerland. In addition to playing the trumpet, Emily has worked extensively as a composer and arranger, co-writing and recording an album for Warner Chappell’s boutique licensing agency, Scoremongers, with bassist Robin Sherman

Emily has a deep passion for writing and recording music and recorded many songs for herself and others. She recently released an album, Give Way, with saxophonist Kate Campbell Strauss in January of 2025, which explores an expansive world of trumpet and saxophone, blending the world of big band jazz and contemporary classical music. In 2023 she released her debut album Kaleidoscape, under the moniker of her indie pop project, Smiloh.