Eleanore (Ella) Harpstead is a Minnesota-based composer and arts writer. As a longtime euphonium player, Harpstead's primary composition focus is on concert bands of all ages and abilities. Her works have been performed by large and small ensembles including the Minnesota Symphonic Winds, St. Olaf Band, Edina and Northfield high school concert bands, the Bavarian Musikmeisters, and the Mivos Quartet. The Northfield High School concert band recently commissioned and premiered her latest work Desperate Measures, which is now available for performance.

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Harpstead's primary composition instructors have included esteemed composer and conductor Dr. Timothy Mahr, as well as Dr. Yan Pang and Dr. Justin Merritt. In 2021, Harpstead was featured by YourClassicalMPR as an emerging composer. She is active in the ColourFULL Music community and counts its founder, Jodie Blackshaw, as an artistic and personal inspiration. Harpstead was was a 2018 participant in The Walden School's Creative Musicians Retreat. She is a member of ASCAP.

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When she is not writing music, Harpstead works as the marketing coordinator for the sheet music self-publishing platform ArrangeMe, which is powered by the sheet music publishing giant Hal Leonard. She is also an accomplished arts writer and has contributed to Minnesota Public Radio and Colorado Public Radio, where she had the great privilege of interviewing Afa S. Dworkin (Sphinx Organization President) and trans activist and opera star Holden Madagame, among others. Her articles can be found here.

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Harpstead finds inspiration in nature and travel, and enjoys hikes with her dog Rosie to ruminate on ideas. Her musical inspirations include minimalism, film scores, music of the late Romantic period and early 20th century, and the works of contemporary band composers. She regularly performs with the Minnesota Symphonic Winds and the Bavarian Musikmeisters polka band. In an adventurous departure from a music-centric life, Harpstead is playing her rookie season on the Minnesota Minx women's tackle football team.

 

She is a 2020 graduate of St. Olaf College, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Music Composition and concentrations in German and Film Studies. Musical highlights at St. Olaf included playing euphonium in the St. Olaf Band, directing the St. Olaf Pep Band, growing lifelong connections with kind and talented musicians, and finding her voice as a composer of new music.