Willa Hawthorne, composer

Meet Willa

Willa performs on Show 413.

Willa Hawthorne (composer), 18, from Pasadena, California, is a senior at Polytechnic School. She currently studies composition with Reena Esmail and has been a fellow in the LA Phil Nancy and Barry Sanders Composer Fellowship Program since 2020, studying with Andrew Norman, Sarah Gibson, and Thomas Kotcheff. Willa has written works for members of the LA Phil, the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, and Sandbox Percussion, among others. She has participated in Boston University Tanglewood Institute’s Young Artist Composition Program as well as Sunset ChamberFest and Interlochen Arts Camp. A cellist and a singer as well as a composer, Willa began her cello studies in 2008 and currently studies privately with Margaret Edmondson. She joined the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus in 2012 and since has performed with the LA Phil and LA Opera. In addition to her musical pursuits, Willa is a captain of her school’s dance team and enjoys visual art, watching movies, and drinking kombucha. In the fall of 2022, Willa will join Yale University’s class of 2026 where she is excited to study music and urban studies.