ISABELLA PIRITTA MORRILL
 

Isabella Morrill, born & raised on the stormy coast of Oregon, is a composer and arranger specializing in wind ensemble and concert band music, film, and orchestral scores. Her music is most often dramatic & energizing, and her goal is to bring rich tangibility those who listen to her compositions. She is a dual citizen of the USA and Finland, and one of her great joys is to tie her Scandinavian heritage closely into her music.

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In the fall of 2019, Isabella was titled co-champion of the Oregon Music Education Association's Composition Contest with her orchestral piece Hymn to the Rain. After this, she gained a commission through the Newport Youth Composer Symposium. This symposium led her to work with Dr. Dana Reason and Michael Dalton in her composition training. She is a recipient of the Oregon Music Hall of Fame scholarship as well as the Finlandia Foundation Scholarship as a composer.

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Isabella attended Western Oregon University on scholarship as a composition majoe, studying under Dr. Kevin Walczyk. She workws there as the Resident Composer, writing and arranging for the Western Oregon Wind Ensemble. During her first three years, she was named outstanding under-graduate composer in Walczyk's studio. She also was commissioned by the Portland Youth Philharmonic through the Youth Orchestra Commissioning Initiative in 2021. Her commissioned piece, Bartokian Brass, was performed in June of the same year by the brass ensemble of the PYP. Through this, she has gained statewide recognition as an up-and-coming composer in the concert band world.

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In 2021, Isabella was chosen to present an original film score ata  masterclass with Dave Metzger, a renowned composer and orchestrator with Disney studios.  

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Her sophomore year led to a commissioned band work from Washington High School in Tacoma, as well as a commissioned work from Chief Umtuch Middle School in Battleground. Since then, Isabella has been focusing on writing for band and wind ensemble.

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She was named the 2022 winner of the National Band Association's Merrill Jones Memorial Young Band Composition Contest, leading to performances with Washington State University, Eastern New Mexico University, Notre Dame College, the Washington-Idaho Symphony and more. She has been a composer in residence for WSU and the WIS. 

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In 2024, she was commissioned for a 12-member consortium headed up by The University of Kansas was Dr. Angelina Gomez and Dr. Paul Popiel. The consortium piece, Rivers, was also chosen to be performed by the United States Air Force Band in parternship with the National Band Association's Young Composer/Conductor Mentorship program. Morrill worked with the group in D.C. under mentorship from Frank Ticheli. 

 

In Septmeber of 2024, Morrill was a featured composer for Moscow, Idaho's Silent Film Festival at the local Kenworthy Theatre. The Washington Idaho Symphony, under the direction of Dr. Danh Pham, performed her 90-minute new film score set to the old silent film, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. 

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Alongside these accomplishments, Isabella has arranged and composed smaller works for a various number of clients. Morrill also is a horn player and has played in several professional groups across the Northwest.  

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