One-on-one with Aella - Ellen Badcock (arranger edition!)

by Teri Slade

(Click here to listen to a solo version of Gjendines bådnlåt, a haunting Norwegian lullaby which Ellen has adapted for SSAA voices. Aella will premiere Ellen’s stunning arrangement at their December 7, 2019 show, Carols & Cake.)

This weekend I had the pleasure of chatting with Ellen. She’s an Aella, a music director, and a pianist who has arranged two of the pieces in Aella’s upcoming concert. Ellen is an absolute joy to sing with and one of the most kind and honest people you’ll ever meet. She is also my doppelgänger. (picture below for proof.) 

See? We could be sisters!!

Here’s what she said about the upcoming concert:

Ellen: I think everybody’s pretty excited that we’re doing a Christmas concert this year. We’ve carolled every year but we’ve never actually sung a Christmas concert before, so it’s extremely fun. The music on the program speaks to many of the different themes of Christmas; for example, there’s a set all about Mary, and there are cradle songs and there’s a Scandinavian set too, which is really cool.

And then of course we’re going to have our request set which will have the carol that wins the Carol Cage Match and people will be able to vote at the concert and we’ll sing whatever people vote for. So that’s really exciting because we literally don’t know what we’re going to sing that day.

Sounds thrilling and nerve racking! If you haven’t participated in the Christmas Carol Cage Match, you need to. Aellas have been making sales pitches to encourage votes for their favourite carols on the list.

Ellen: I guess you read [Aella’s manager] Erin’s sales pitch for Past Three O’Clock?

Teri: Yes! It was hilarious! And I love that carol, but the pitch was just so great!

Ellen: Well, it certainly made me think about that carol in a new light, that’s for sure! And even though I’m going to be writing an appeal for another carol, it makes me want to vote for her carol! Then, of course after Jenn’s emotional plea for Jesus Christ the Apple Tree, I wanted to vote for hers! 

Since our interview, [Aella member] Kelly also made a great pitch for Jingle Bell Rock, and I believe Ellen will be making one for Ding Dong Merrily on High, which she arranged!

Teri: Tell me about the arranging process for Ding Dong Merrily on High.

Ellen: Well, I had always wanted to sing in a small treble group like this. One year, long before I found Aella, I ordered a whole bunch of SSA music just so that if maybe I had the music, maybe I would find the people to sing it with. It was a situation where you couldn’t look at the music before you ordered it, so I had just ordered a whole bunch of SSA music sight unseen and I was particularly excited about Ding Dong Merrily on High. As I was waiting for my music to arrive, I found myself wondering, “What is this music going to sound like?” I would be driving in my car and think, “Oh, I wonder if it will do this? I wonder if the alto part will go like this?” and I was doing so much wondering about it that I decided to write down some of my ideas, and then I enjoyed that process so much that I just ended up writing the whole arrangement before my music ever arrived. 

Teri: Did you like the one that came in the mail?

Ellen: You know what, I don’t think I did!  But you know, I think that experience helped me realize how much I enjoyed arranging, because I had written music before that, but I’d never arranged anything and when I wrote this arrangement I really loved it. It’s been just a dream come true that I’ve been able to sing this, which was my first ever choral arrangement with Aella, with these wonderful beautiful talented singers.

And now I want to go vote for Ding Dong Merrily on High! But there’s another arrangement by Ellen that is definitely going to be sung at the concert. It’s called Gjendines bådnlåt. 

Ellen: This was a first for me because it was my first time arranging a piece that I had never heard before. All I got was this beautiful, haunting melody, and there are arrangements in existence, but I purposefully didn’t listen to them before writing mine because I didn’t want to be influenced. I wanted to just listen to this melody and see what I came up with. It was a really cool experience because the style and the language and everything about it was so different from what I’m used to. It’s a cradle song and I got to play with that a little bit and try to make it sound like it was rocking, and I added some interesting rhythms and I put a fugal section in the middle. It was really a lot of fun.

I love fugues. You know what’s even better than fugues? Fugues and cake. 

Teri: What is your favourite type of cake?

Ellen: [laughs] Much like Christmas carols, I can’t pick just one! But I think if I had to, I would probably choose black forest cake. But I’m also looking forward to trying the traditional Norwegian Christmas cake!

Yes, the kransekake! If you didn’t know, this cake is stunning! It has about a million layers and tastes like the regal distant cousin of macarons and seven layer squares. 

Now for a special musical Christmas moment. 

Ellen: A few years ago, I was planning the music for my church’s candlelight service and the final hymn was Silent Night, so I decided to play an arrangement of Silent Night on piano right after the closing hymn. Normally the church can get pretty noisy after a service, especially at Christmastime because people are excited and everything, but that night, I don’t know, just something about the magic of that piece seemed to kind of cast a spell on the entire congregation and the whole church fell totally silent. You could hear a pin drop. Even after I played the last notes, nobody moved. Nobody made a sound. Everybody just got up from their seats in silence. It was a really powerful moment and I still get chills thinking about it, to know that music can do that.

I got chills hearing about it! And I think YOU will get chills at the Aella Carols & Cake concert, particularly during the Biebl Ave Maria. It’s so beautiful, someone will definitely cry (probably me).

One-on-one with Aella: Kara Morris

One-on-one with Aella is an ongoing series in which Aella members interview one another so that you can learn a bit more about us! We are happy to be back and posting after a very full and busy 2018 :)

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A conversation with Kara Morris
By Teri Slade

Through Aella, I have had the great joy of meeting (and now interviewing) Kara. If you ever have the chance to meet her, you will be thoroughly blessed by the experience because she is just the loveliest person, who is also epic at what she does!

Growing up in Nova Scotia, Kara loved acting, and began studying voice so she could do both music and theatre. She ended up really loving the music side of things and going on to do her undergraduate degree in voice. While she only started studying voice later, Kara began singing in choirs in church as a child.

Teri: What are some of your choral highlights?

Kara: One of my favourites was Peter Togni’s consort in Halifax. It was all church music, but because he’s a composer and also the organist the music was always gorgeous and a lot of it was music he composed himself. And it was a small group, maybe 10-12 people.

Teri: Wow, that must have been a really skilled group!

Kara: Yes! And he conducted us from the organ.

Kara sang with the Gilbert and Sullivan Society in Halifax and when she moved here, she immediately auditioned for the Savoy Society because she knew it was a thing she enjoyed (and I imagine also because it’s a thing that she’s fabulous at doing, though she’s perhaps too humble to have said so).

Teri: What was your favourite role?

Kara [with zero hesitation]: Mabel from Pirates of Penzance.

Pirates of Penzance I first saw when I was a kid and I was just in awe of Mabel because she does that aria that goes really high. It’s the first thing you hear when Mabel arrives as a character.

Teri: So that must have been fun to star as her!

Kara: Yes, but even more than getting to do all of the showy vocal stuff, I love being around other people on stage, and in that scene, a lot of the cast is on stage. I don’t like doing arias where you’re all alone on the stage and just singing to the audience. That’s probably the biggest reason that I didn’t try to be a professional singer because I don’t like to just stand by the piano and sing. Although the vocal calisthenics are super fun, it’s not the same as interacting with others on stage. And in that scene, you get to interact with every other character. It’s great!

Isn’t that cool? I’ve always appreciated how much Kara likes to interact and connect with people on stage. So naturally I told her how much I love blending with her (because our voices match quite nicely), and she said:

I love blending with people. That’s something special about choir that you don’t have in operetta. In those roles, you need to sound like a soloist, but there’s something really lovely about everybody’s voices sounding as one. I love it! It’s such a nice way to connect with people.

And then I HAD to ask this question:

Teri: So, in Aella, people know how lovely you are and how easy you are to talk to, but surely you’re aware that you are known particularly for your high notes. How does that make you feel?

Kara: It makes me feel special! That I have something special to contribute. It hasn’t always been the case, at least not in my choir experiences. In university, I was not the one who you looked to for high notes.

In my first year of university, anything above an E at the top of the staff was not comfortable, so they pegged me as a mezzo. I had three different teachers during my music and theatre degree and it was the third one who taught me how to access my upper register. I don’t know how to explain what she taught me, exactly, but she helped me find a whole new register.

Sometimes when we sing things in Aella that is mostly in a mid-high register but pops up to higher notes, I sometimes need to catch myself and change into that higher register so that I don’t strain to make the pitches happen. So, I get it why people, when they are trying to learn to sing high, they stop at that point and say that they can’t go higher. It really does feel like there’s a block there, especially if you don’t know yet how to change into that higher register.

Some other highlights of things Kara does: yoga, spending loads of time outside (she intentionally chose to live in a spot by the transCanada Trail for access to trail walking), raising a most adorable pre-schooler, working as a psychotherapist, and missing Nova Scotia. No wonder she and I get along so well: we both spend lots of time missing our east coast homes. <3

One final quote from our long chat:

I felt that when I joined Aella I immediately had a dozen new friends.

Me too, Kara. Me too.

One-on-one with Aella: Jennifer Berntson on Aella's founding

Get to know our members in One-on-one with Aella, a series of blog posts in which members of the choir interview each other.  In our first interview, choir manager Erin Joyce speaks with founder and artistic director Jennifer Berntson on the choir's beginning and growth.

E: How did Aella start?

J: Earlier this year, First Baptist Church approached me about doing a noon-hour recital on July 1st. At the time, I’d recently returned from the 20th anniversary reunion of the Saskatoon Children's Choir (SCC), where I had an amazing time revisiting the music that I grew up with and that first nurtured my love of choral singing. Rather than performing by myself, I thought I could take the opportunity to sing more of the treble choir music that I loved and missed. So I brought together some friends from other Ottawa-area choirs.

From there, things spiraled madly out of control. There was such obvious passion for the project, and singing together was such a special experience. Almost immediately, there was a general consensus that we should keep going.

E: What was so special about singing together?

J: Part of it is performing without a conductor. You are forced to connect with and get to know the other members of the choir so much faster, and you gain a great appreciation for how talented they are! It fosters a collaborative spirit that, I hope, makes everyone feel free to voice their opinions.

And I love that it’s a space to build camaraderie and fellowship with other women. Women sometimes feel like they’re not allowed to be supportive of each other; we’re socialized to be competitive.  But singing in a treble choir helps us build friendships and connections with each other. And I really believe groups that are socially cohesive are musically cohesive. They have a better sound.

E: How is a choir different than other contexts in which women come together?

J: Because it’s very literally about finding their voices, using those voices, and then combining them to make something that is more powerful than they are individually. Finding vocal strength and freedom can really build self-confidence. It’s an empowerment thing.

E: Have you ever experienced that empowerment yourself?

J: Yes, when I was singing with SCC. I think that young people sometimes feel disenfranchised, and can devalue themselves – it can be a really challenging time. As a young person, being a part of SCC was transformative. It made me feel like I was a valuable part of something important and beautiful.

E: How do you choose repertoire for the choir?

J: I enjoy choosing music that allows me to feature as many of our singers as possible. We really have an abundance of talent. One of my favourite things about singing in such a small group is how well you get to know the voices. Knowing that certain combinations of voices will blend together perfectly, and getting to put them together. Or knowing that certain singers will sound amazing singing certain solos. It’s been fun hearing everyone’s reactions: “My jaw hit the floor when she started singing!” “I didn’t know she could make that kind of sound!” Recently someone told me that she had the experience for the first time of singing in a particular standing arrangement and feeling so well blended with her neighbours that she couldn’t tell where her voice ended and the others began.

I try to make a point of choosing music that’s enjoyable to sing, and a mix of contemporary, pop, folk, and classical music. This year we're performing some new compositions and arrangements, so we can support our talented friends who are composers and arrangers.

It’s also important that our programs be interesting and varied, from both the singers’ and the audience’s perspective. I like choosing repertoire that gives our members different experiences. For example, we’ll be singing in some fun stereophonic configurations for our February “Snow Angel” concert.  And we’ll be working with a lot of percussion in “Her Voice” – our spring concert – as well as incorporating movement into some pieces.

E: Is it rare for adult choirs to incorporate movement into their performances?

J: Certainly much rarer than it is for children’s and youth choirs, yes. I think that, as kids, we’re encouraged to be active. Whereas as adults, we’re encouraged to exercise for health purposes, rather than just for the joy of movement – and then sit at desks all day. We become uncomfortable and self-conscious about the idea of movement in general.

In western culture, especially, we’ve learned to divorce singing and vocal production from movement because we are “presenting” the music. This isn’t something that happens everywhere. When you sing, your body is the instrument. And a more relaxed body is going to produce a more relaxed sound, which is going to be more enjoyable to listen to.

We’re not a dance troupe – I have no ambitions there! But I hope to start incorporating movement that will add visual interest as well as help singers experience and embody our repertoire in a new way.

E: Where did the name "Aella" come from?

J: I am terrible at names.... but I was hoping to find something that represented the spirit of our group, so I solicited opinions from our members. We played around with a variety of ideas, ranging from Latin legal terms to Germanic water sprites. Then we had a rehearsal where we sang Warrior by the Wyrd Sisters for the first time. It's such a powerful song, and it really resonated with the group. One of our singers, Teri, sent out a list of warrior themed names the next day, one of which was Aella. Aella was an Amazon warrior who fought Herakles in Greek mythology. The name also means whirlwind, which is a great connection to wind and breath and the voice, as well as the circular formation that we often rehearse in. It was the perfect fit.

I'm thrilled with our warrior-themed name because, as I said earlier, I feel like choral singing is an empowering experience. And the choir is full of amazing warrior women!

E: How many of the singers in Aella knew each other before they joined?

J: Not all – but many of them. Mostly because of how Aella first came together, a lot of women are ones I have sung with in the Capital Chamber and First Baptist Church Choirs. It’s been really fun to see friendships form between people from different groups who’d never met before. And also to see women from the same groups, who didn’t know each other well, really deepen their friendships. Because it’s a smaller group, we have more chances to chat and interact. Plus, because Aella doesn’t have set voice parts, people who might usually be sopranos end up beside altos and other people they don’t usually get to sing with.

I feel like, when I started Aella, I was under the impression I was asking a favour of friends; I had no idea how much this would grow, and I've been blown away by the enthusiasm and passion that has emerged from the group.