Meet Layla Morris, Cello
Layla Morris, Cello Bio:
Layla Morris grew up in Hinesburg, Vermont, where she began playing the cello at the age of three. She recently completed her BM in cello performance from Oberlin Conservatory as a student of Darrett Adkins. While at Oberlin, Layla also received a minor in creative writing and baroque cello/viola da gamba as a student of Rebecca Landell. She will be pursuing her master’s degree in cello performance at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music starting in fall 2025, under the tutelage of Brian Manker.
Layla has participated in music festivals, received performance scholarships, and performed as a soloist with various organizations throughout Vermont and New England, including the New England Music Festival and the Vermont Philharmonic. During the summers, Layla has studied at the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute, Kinhaven Music School, Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, Chautauqua Institution, and NOI+F.
Layla was selected to travel to Carnegie Hall with the Oberlin Orchestra in January 2023. She has served as principal cello of the Oberlin Orchestra and the Oberlin Baroque Orchestra, and she has participated in Oberlin’s Advanced Quartet Seminar. In January 2024, Layla traveled to Uruguay as part of an Oberlin Winter Term project where she taught, performed, and collaborated with local musicians. When not playing cello or gamba, Layla enjoys skiing, biking, writing poetry, and choral singing.
Layla Morris, Q&A:
GFS: When did you first start playing your musical instrument?
LM: I started the cello at age three using the Suzuki Method.
GFS: Who was most influential in shaping your talent and inspiring your passion for music and your instrument?
LM: Growing up in a musical family, I always felt that music was an extremely important part of my life, but I had especially inspiring experiences at the summer music festivals that I attended as a young student, Green Mountain Suzuki Institute, and Kinhaven Music School. I loved getting to meet young musicians from other places and learn from teachers from all different backgrounds.
GFS: What stories come to mind that led to your choice to make music a focus in your life?
LM: I was serious about music from a very young age, but I think one of the biggest influences on my choice to pursue it was getting to travel and perform in new places. I went to a Suzuki Conference in Minneapolis (where I wasn’t even playing in the orchestra) and saw so many people sharing their musical knowledge and ability with each other, and I just thought it was so cool how people could understand each other and collaborate in this way even if they didn’t know each other before. The “universal language” aspect of music is what has always interested me the most, and I feel like that’s a unique and powerful thing about life in music.
GFS: What are your routines leading up to a concert performance? How do you prepare for concert rehearsals?
LLM: Of course, I make sure to practice my part carefully and listen to a lot of different recordings. Sometimes I even play along with a recording to check that I can play all the hard parts at tempo. For a performance, I use a lot of tried and true methods like arriving early, drinking water, breathing deeply, and eating a banana because the potassium helps regulate nerves. I try to balance moments of playing with moments of rest.
GFS: Tell us about what you enjoy doing outside of your career as a professional musician.
LM: I took a lot of Creative Writing classes in high school and college, and that’s always something I’ve enjoyed a lot, both reading and writing poetry. I feel like it helps me with music as well, to make other kinds of art and think about ways they can connect. I also love to be outside: skiing in the winter, swimming, and biking in the summer.
GFS: What music are you listening to right now?
LM: I’m about to play Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra at the summer festival I’m currently attending, so I have been listening to that a lot, and it’s such an amazing piece. I’ve also been listening to a lot of classic jazz and soul singers like Smokey Robinson, Ella Fitzgerald, and Frank Sinatra.
GFS: What are you most looking forward to in the Glens Falls Symphony 2025-26 Season?
LM: I am excited to play Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet and Pictures at an Exhibition. It will be my first time playing the Prokofiev and my second time playing Pictures. I’m also just excited to join the orchestra and get to know the other musicians!
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