Born in 1970, Kelly Rossum was fortunate to arrive into a musical family. His father was a clarinetist in college and in the Army band and his mother was an accomplished pianist at an early age. As a young child, Kelly was surrounded by music, both on the quadraphonic stereo and live in the family room. As many children of the 70's may remember, Sesame Street was a daytime hit and a pioneer in children's television. Trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie once played as a guest on that show, and Kelly was hooked.

After graduating high school in 1988, Kelly continued down a path of musical education at various universities across the country. First, while earning his Bachelor of Music in music, he studied with the renowned trumpet professor Dennis Schneider at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. The University of North Texas, well known for their jazz program, was the school Kelly attended for his Master of Music degree. He had the opportunity to study with many fine instructors during his stay in Texas, including: Keith Johnson, Dr. Leonard Candelaria, Mike Steinel, Paris Rutherford and Neil Slater. After UNT, he graduated with his Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Minnesota, under the tutelage of Dr. David Baldwin. All of his university degrees focused on classical trumpet playing. Kelly said, “Since the trumpet is such a difficult instrument to master, classical training will give you the technical ability to play anything you want. Once you thoroughly understand the instrument, stylistic choices become just that, choices; not limitations.”