composer, collaborator
Ella Harpstead is known for crafting timely and emotionally-driven works. Her compositions and custom orchestrations have been performed by large and small ensembles including the Minnesota Symphonic Winds, Mivos Quartet, St. Olaf Band, Edina High School concert band, and others.
Harpstead is a graduate of St. Olaf College, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Music Composition with concentrations in German and Film Studies. Her primary composition instructors have included composer and conductor Dr. Timothy Mahr, and Drs. Yan Pang and Justin Merritt. In 2021, Harpstead was featured by YourClassicalMPR as an emerging composer. She is a member of ASCAP.
In 2026, the Utka Ensemble approached Harpstead with the Storybook Music Project. They premiered her original music for the book Birdsong, by author Julie Flett, as part of a regional library tour.
The Northfield High School concert band commissioned and premiered her work, Desperate Measures, for their 2024 performance at the Minnesota Music Educator's Association.
"Your students and program will greatly benefit from the experience of bringing Desperate Measures to life."
– Nahal Javan, Band Director at Northfield High School
Harpstead's artistic inspirations currently include wilderness, human emotion, minimalism, film scoring, European folk music, and the works of her wind-composing contemporaries. She is also an accomplished arts writer. Her articles can be found here.
She enjoys hikes with her dog, Rosie, to ruminate on ideas. When she is not writing music, Harpstead is a producer and music programmer at Classical California. A Los Angeles resident, she's frequently found collaborating on projects in the Midwest.
