Isabel Mundry is one of the most distinguished German composer to the present. She studied composition at Hochschule der Künste, Berlin, and Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, Frankfurt am Main. In addition, she studied art history, philosophy, and music. In 1996, she was appointed Professor for harmony and composition at the Musikhochschule Frankfurt. In 2004, she became Professor for composition at Zürcher Hochschule der Künste and in 2011 additionally at Hochschule für Musik und Theater München. Since 2016, she works at Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur Mainz. Isabel Mundry was the first resident composer of the Staatskapelle in Dresden. She previously held a similar position at the Tong Yong Festival, the Lucerne Festival and the Mannheim National Theater.

Her compositions are characterized by a highly individualized musical language, full of variants and nuances. They were interpreted by the Philharmonisches Orchester Berlin, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Staatskapelle Dresden. Among the prizes for her works are Busoni-Preis 1995, Förderpreis Ernst-von-Siemens-Stiftung 2001, Heidelberger Künstlerinnenpreis 2011, and the Deutscher Musikautorenpreis 2014. Her music theater Ein Atemzug – Odyssee premiered at Deutsche Oper Berlin in September 2005 and was voted Premiere of the Year.