Isabella (Bella) Scotti

About Bella

Award-winning percussionist Bella Scotti (she/they) is currently active in the State College area, collaborating and working with local rising artists, including current Penn State students, as well as performing with local ensembles such as the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra, the Altoona Symphony Orchestra, the Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra, and the Penns Woods Winds Symphony. They have also performed nationally at CBDNA-E as both a member of the Collegiate Band and through the Penn State Wind Ensemble’s featured performance in 2024, as well as with the New Orchestra of Washington in Washington, D.C. Scotti has performed multiple local solo percussion gigs, including at The Village at Penn State Retirement Community and Messiah University’s Percussive Arts Society Day of Percussion. They are an active private instructor for both piano and percussion, with students ranging from elementary school-age to Ph.D. candidates. Scotti also serves on the Education Committee for the Percussive Arts Society.

Scotti is determined to become a university professor in percussion–to make waves in the percussion field by making percussion more accessible to composers and arrangers through collaboration, as well as more accessible to the public through advocacy in performance and education.

Scotti earned their undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree in music and percussion performance, a Professional Performance Certificate, and a Master of Music in Percussion Performance from Penn State University as the Percussion Studio Teaching Assistant under the instruction of Dr. Lee Hinkle. Starting Fall 2025, they will begin pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts in Percussion Performance at the University of Texas at Austin as the Percussion Studio Teaching Assistant under the instruction of Dr. Tom Burritt and Prof. Ivan Trevino.

Scotti is proud to be an endorsed educator by Sonaris Percussion and a member of the Black Swamp Percussion Educator Network.