On June 15, 2013 at Seattle’s Town Hall all five levels of Seattle Girls’ Choir will premiere newly commissioned works. Composer and conductor Aimee Mell chose to write a new piece for Allegra, the SGC ensemble she also conducts.
Sisters in Singing
Music by Aimee Mell
Words by Aimee Mell & Allegra
When I decided to write a song for Allegra to celebrate our 30th Anniversary, I started to think about what is important to our SGC girls. Since I teach the choir where girls first attend our overnight camp at Ft. Flagler, I realized that the camp sister relationship is one that often carries beyond that one week of summer. I’ve also seen how seriously the older girls take their role. They oversee bouts of homesickness and scraped knees, and help their little sisters through thick and thin. Much of the music I write is not even completely tonal, and rarely is it in a lighter style like this. While I wrote the music, Allegra girls helped brainstorm words and ideas. I think this song simply an expression of the exuberance of this age group, and perhaps some channeling of my own inner-Allegra! -Aimee Mell
New works will also be premiered by SGC Founder and Artistic Director Emeritus Dr. Jerome Wright, Seattle Composer John Muehleisen, Seattle Pro Musica Artistic Director Karen P. Thomas, and SGC alumnae Katie Bent and Amanda Kunz.
Tickets are available at 206-526-1900 or http://www.seattlegirlschoir.org
Aimee Mell has taught music theory, sight-singing, composition, and music history at the high school and undergraduate levels. She has also taught middle and high school choir for over ten years in both public and private schools. She holds a B.M of Music Education (choral) from Washington State University, a M.M. in Music Composition from Butler University, and she is a Ph.D. Candidate in Music History at the University of Washington. She has studied composition with Charles Argersinger (WSU), James Aikman (Butler U), and Michael Schelle (Butler U). She is also the recipient of an MENC National Composition Award, as well as the Lily Endowment Teacher Creativity Grant which allowed her to compose and to travel to The Gambia, Africa. Mell also serves as a board member for ACDA Washington (UNISON Editor), The Greater Seattle Choral Consortium, Simple Measures (Chamber Music, Advisory Board), and she spent six years as a board member for Seattle Opera affiliate groups.
Seattle Girls' Choir 