Bethlehem Kelley is an Ethiopian American violinist born in Addis Ababa and raised in Lenexa, Kansas. As a soloist, Betti is a 2024 Sphinx Competition Laureate and first prize winner in the Kansas City Symphony Young Artist Competition. She has soloed with the Sphinx Honors Orchestra, Akron Symphony Orchestra, Midwest Chamber Ensemble, Rochester Symphony Orchestra, and the Kansas City Civic Orchestra.
Betti is a founding member of the Mia String Quartet. The MSQ participated in the Calidore String Quartet Seminar, was a finalist in the senior division of the Coltman Chamber Music Competition, and received the audience choice award at the St. Paul String Quartet Competition.
Bethlehem has spent summers touring abroad as a member of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States and studying and performing at various summer festivals around the world, including the Aspen Music Festival as a fellowship recipient, Sphinx Performance Academy, Center Stage Strings, the Summer Academy at ENCORE, and the Conservatoire Américaine at the Fontainebleau Schools. As a recipient of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis scholarship at the Encore Chamber Music Institute, she performed recitals in Cleveland and Indianapolis alongside violinist Jinjoo Cho.
Bethlehem earned her bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Michigan as a student of Professor Danielle Belen. She us currently studying with Kathleen Winkler at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. As a young violinist, Betti was a student of Kristin Velicer and Alice Joy Lewis.