Australian Composer
“…a pure expression of intimacy in music sounds are constructed and coaxed out of the instruments with a sense of tenderness and sincerity.”
- Ella Macens
Ella Macens is one of Australia’s most celebrated young composers. Her contemporary classical works are grounded in a deeply evocative and sensitive musical aesthetic, with a musical language inspired by her love of popular and classical music styles, as well as her immersion in instrumental folk music and Baltic choral music.
Macens’ works have been commissioned and performed across Australia and internationally, including by the Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmanian, and Canberra Symphony Orchestras; the Ulster Orchestra; Brunel Sinfonia; the Seattle and Richmond Delta Youth Orchestras; the Flinders and Goldner String Quartets; Inventi Ensemble; Muses Trio; Ensemble Apex; Claire Edwardes; The Song Company; State Choir Latvija, the Riga Cathedral Girls’, and the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music Chamber Choirs; and the Sydney Chamber, Sydney Children’s, and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, among others.
Macens was a finalist in the 2023 Australian Art Music Awards in the category of Work of the Year – Large Ensemble for her work Release. She has held numerous composition residency positions and is currently an Associate Lecturer in Composition at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.