A native of Charleston, South Carolina, Nikki Hillis began playing the trombone at age 13, having begun her musical training on the piano several years earlier. Throughout middle and high schools, Nikki studied with Kate Jenkins before taking up studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music under Timothy Anderson.

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While attending the Conservatory, Nikki competed in numerous competitions and received multiple awards, including winning the Undergraduate Concerto Competition. She also enjoyed a semester abroad in Aarhus, Denmark at the Royal Academy of Music where she studied with Niels-Ole Bo Johansen.  Nikki participated in a variety of festivals and seminars throughout the summers, including the Brevard Summer Music Festival, the Rafael Mendez Brass Institute, the Cleveland Trombone Seminar, the Mulcahy Seminar, and the Spoleto Festival.  

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She is a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where she studied with Timothy Higgins, principal trombone of the San Francisco Symphony.  While there, she was one of three finalists in the International Trombone Association Frank Smith competition and the winner of the biannual concerto competition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.  Nikki has enjoyed the opportunity to play with groups such as the San Francisco Symphony, the Philip Glass Ensemble, and many regional orchestras in the Bay Area including the Berkeley Symphony, Oakland Symphony and Marin Symphony. Nikki has also performed with Eurovision's 2015 winner, Il Volo, Grammy Award winner American singer songwriter, Beck, and Grammy Award winner and record producer, Maxwell. As an educator, Nikki has also been a member of the Adventures in Music Program with the San Francisco Symphony for 4 seasons and is currently serving as brass and piano instructor as well as chamber coach at the International School of San Francisco.