In July 2023, Ella Seebacher was on vacation with her family in Stone Harbor, New York, when one night, they were out and came across a man singing on stage. Seebacher’s family, who knew of her singing abilities, saw this as an opportunity for her to display her talent.

Seebacher, now a junior at Penn State, cracked under the pressure from her family, went on stage, and sang two songs for the crowd. Seebacher’s sister-in-law got the performance on video and when Seebacher watched it, she posted it to her TikTok, which had 5,000 followers at the time.

@ellaseebacherxmusic

live devut? i guess so ! @nickhorn_ thank you sm! #music #homecover #singing #edwardsharpeandthemagneticzeros #cover #fyp #spontaneous

♬ original sound – ella

“I just posted it and then I went to sleep,” Seebacher said.

When she woke up the next day, her musical career changed forever. Seebacher’s following quickly rose to 10,000 and the video generated 12.6 million views on TikTok. She posted a second singing video that ended up getting 2.8 million views.

In September 2022, Seebacher was starting her freshman year at Penn State and looking for clubs to join. One of her family members encouraged Seebacher to audition for Savoir Faire — Penn State’s only all-female a capella group. Seebacher decided to give it a shot, despite never having done a capella before, and she was selected to join the group.

“That, I think, was my best college decision,” Seebacher said. “Those are my closest friends now. I absolutely love the group.”

Joining Savoir Faire started her musical career at Penn State. Not only was Seebacher able to find a group of people she liked to be around, but she also found like-minded people who shared her passion for music.

“It’s so cool to be surrounded with girls who also like to sing,” Seebacher said.

The Pennslyvania native continued to improve her singing and made great friends through Savoir Faire. Once she went viral, Seebacher started posting more frequently on TikTok. She specializes in singing covers of popular country artists like Zach Bryan, Tyler Childers, and her favorite, Megan Moroney.

@ellaseebacherxmusic

I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH @Megan Moroney #indifferentcover #cover #singing #country #music #love #fyp #like #song #meganmoroney #countrysinger #acoustic

♬ original sound – ella

Seebacher is still highly involved in Savoir Faire and enjoys posting her videos on social media. However, she’s interested in seeing what else she can do with her talents.

Seebacher was recently contacted by a professor in the Bellisario College of Communications, who was blown away by her musical abilities and wanted to create content with her. They filmed a singing video in a parking garage, using high-level film equipment and a production team, and Seebacher expects the video to be out on her social media soon.

Seebacher is also excited about the opportunities that Penn State has to offer in terms of performing live. She spoke to Doggie’s Pub, and although the bar is booked for performers this fall, Seebacher is hoping to put on a show in the spring.

“I want to get more Penn State culture into my platform,” Seebacher said. “Penn State fosters the singing community very well.”

Seebacher has also been in contact with various people at Penn State about possibly singing the national anthem at a Penn State Athletics event.

Seebacher is an English education major and hopes to be an English teacher one day, but that doesn’t mean she will give up singing. She hopes to continue singing for fun long after she graduates.

“[Singing] was and always will be something I do because I want to, not because I feel like I have to,” Seebacher said.