Faculty

New Jersey-born and Nebraska-raised, Tehillah Alphonso is a Nigerian American vocalist, pianist, music director and Grammy-nominated arranger based in Los Angeles, California. A proud summa cum laude graduate of the University of Southern California, she received her B.M. in Popular Music Performance from the Thornton School of Music and was named 2020 Outstanding Graduate, becoming the first Black woman in the pop program to receive this award. While a full-time student at USC, Alphonso served as the business manager and music director of USC’s premier a cappella group and five-time ICCA champions, the SoCal VoCals. “Upon graduating, she quickly made a name for herself in the session music industry, having sung on a number of films (NOPE, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Encanto, The Color Purple) and television series (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Rookie, Minx, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds). She has also sung behind and alongside notable artists, including Chloe Bailey, Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo. In May 2024, she made her Hollywood Bowl solo debut, performing in the 30th Anniversary Celebration of The Lion King along the likes of Jennifer Hudson, Heather Headley, Lebo M and the original cast of the 1994 film.