Biography

About the Composer

Ella Macens is rapidly becoming one of Australia's most celebrated young composers. Frequently commissioned and performed by Australia's leading ensembles and organisations, as well as internationally, her works for orchestras, choirs, chamber music ensembles and soloists draw upon elements of her Latvian heritage and fuse these with her love of popular and classical music. Her language is rooted in a deeply evocative and sensitive musical aesthetic, for which she is becoming well-known in Australia and beyond.

Ella’s list of commissions and performances is extensive. In Australia this includes collaborations with the Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmanian, and Canberra Symphony Orchestras; the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Wind Symphony, the Flinders and Goldner string quartets; Ensemble Apex, Muses Trio, Inventi Ensemble; The Song Company, Sydney Chamber Choir, Gondwana National Choirs, Sydney Children's Choir, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Chamber Choir, the Australian Ballet, Sydney Festival, the Canberra International Music Festival, the Bowral Autumn Music Festival and Four Winds Festival. Internationally, Macens' works have been performed by the Ulster Orchestra, Brunel Sinfonia, Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Delta Youth Orchestra, State Choir Latvija, the Riga Cathedral Girls' Choir, the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music Chamber Choir, the Sonic.Art Saxophone Quartet, and the XV Latvian Canadian Song and Dance Festival, among others.

Ella has completed a Bachelor of Music (Composition) with first class honours at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, The University of Sydney, and in 2022 completed a Master of Music (Composition) under the guidance of Professor Matthew Hindson AM. In 2023 she was appointed Associate Lecturer in Composition at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Ella has held composition residencies with Sydney Youth Orchestra, Sydney Children’s Choir, Trinity Grammar School, International Grammar School and Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Sydney. In 2016 she was one of four composers selected to participate in the Sydney Conservatorium of Music’s inaugural Composing Women program, through which she fostered strong connections with leading Australian ensembles and soloists. In 2018-19 she was one of four composers selected to participate in the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Australian Composers' School. In 2019 she was a featured composer at the Bowral Autumn Music Festival, and in 2020 was selected as the Flinders Quartet's emerging composer in residence. In 2022 her work The Space Between Stars was nominated for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra's first ever People's Choice Concert, as selected by Chief Conductor Simone Young.

Macens’ 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 and baltic choral music. These elements have unsurprisingly woven their way into 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. In 2020 she received an award of similar sentiment from the Latvian Federation of Australia & New Zealand (LAAJ), and in 2021 was awarded the Andra Ritmana Creative Future Memorial Fund award.

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 2023 she was a finalist in the APRA AMCOS Australian Music Centre Art Music Awards in the category Work of the Year: Large Ensemble for her Sydney Symphony Orchestra 50 Fanfares commission titled Release.

April 2025