Photo: Darwin Gomez
about the composer
Sydney based Ella Macens is a fast-emerging composer with a passion for choral, orchestral and chamber music writing. Capturing qualities from both popular and classical music styles as well as that of her Latvian herritage, Ella's music is becoming well-known in Australia and beyond.
Ensembles and organisations that have commissioned, premiered or performed her work include the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Youth Orchestra, the Flinders Quartet, The Goldner String Quartet, the Strelitzia String Quartet, The Song Company, Gondwana National Choirs, Sydney Children's Choir, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Chamber Choir, State Choir Latvija, Latvian choirs Pernigele and Anima, the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music Chamber Choir, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, West Australian Young Voices, Young Adelaide Voices, the Leichhardt Espresso Chorus, Claire Edwardes, Genevieve Lacey, Neal Peres Da Costa, Danny Yeadon, the Judgment of Paris Recorder Quartet, Cranbrook School, Trinity Grammar School, the Canberra International Music Festival, the National Carillon Association of Australia, the Sydney Latvian Society, Sydney Festival 2018, and the XV Latvian Canadian Song and Dance Festival.
Ella has completed a Bachelor of Music (Composition) with first class honours at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, The University of Sydney, and is currently studying a Master of Music (Composition) under the guidance of Professor Matthew Hindson AM. As one of four composers selected to participate in the Sydney Conservatorium of Music's inaugural National Women Composers' Development Program (2016-17), Ella has been fostering connections with some of Australia's most esteemed ensembles and soloists through the creation of a series of solo, chamber, choral and orchestral works.
Her compositions have won awards, including inclusion in ENCORE (2009), the Frank Hutchens Scholarship for Composition in 2012 and the Fine Music FM Young Composer Award (2017) for her first orchestral piece titled FLIGHT.
In 2015 Ella held the position of composer in residence with Trinity Grammar School and Sydney Youth Orchestra. From 2018-19 she was composer in residence with Sydney Children's Choir as well as one of four composers selected to participate in the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Australian Composers' School (2018-19). Ella is currently composer in residence at PLC in Croydon, NSW.
The composer's musical voice is heavily influenced by her Latvian heritage. Growing up in a rich and colourful Latvian community has led her to be continuously surrounded by instrumental folk music, baltic choral music and traditional dance. These elements have unsurprisingly woven their way in to Ella's compositional style. In 2017 she received a prestigious award from the World Federation of Free Latvians (PBLA) to honour her dedication to her cultural heritage, specifically through the incorporation of Latvian elements in her professional line of work. Ella further celebrates her cultural background by arranging traditional Latvian folk songs into contemporary music styles with her good friend Ivars Stubis, which they perform together at Latvian festivals and events in Australia.
Ella is also a proud music educator, teaching Composition for Creative Industries, the Fundamentals of Music Theory, and Intermediate Level Aural Skills at the University of Sydney and Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
March 2020
EXAMPLES OF WORKS
RESTING WITH ANGELS (2016)
For string quartet. Approximate duration: 11 minutes 20 seconds.
Over the past decade I have become increasingly fond of the music of Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks, with whom I share my cultural heritage. Resting with Angels, my first work for string quartet, was inspired by Vasks' Vientulais Enģelis (Lonely Angel) - a Meditation for Violin and String Orchestra. In Resting with Angels I wanted to create a space in which the listener is invited to surrender into a deep state of meditation and find emotional healing through the music. Most importantly, I wanted to communicate light conquering darkness. The work was originally composed for a workshop opportunity with the Goldner String Quartet in conjunction with the Sydney Conservatorium of Music’s National Women Composers’ Development Program (2016-17), and in 2017 I was selected to workshop the piece further with Melbourne’s Flinders Quartet. This recording captures their premiere performance of this piece in Melbourne in December 2017.
Thank you to Haig Burnell for this recording. Photo: Sarah Walker.
THE LAKE (2019)
For string ensemble. Approximate duration: 7 minutes 10 seconds.
Arrangement commissioned by Jason Catlett for the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra Chamber String Ensemble.
The premiere performances of this arrangement took place at the Zenith Theatre and Convention Centre in Chatswood, NSW on the 4th August 2019 as part of the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra Chamber Series.
VERVE (2016)
For solo marimba. Approximate duration: 4 minutes 20 seconds.
This piece was composed for percussionist Claire Edwardes under the Sydney Conservatorium of Music's inaugural National Women Composers' Development Program (2016-17).