About Elle (pron. ‘Ellie‘)
Choir Leader
Having a greater connection with the audience very much interests me. Rather than ‘we’re doing this’, ‘look at us, this is for you’. I wanted our performances to be more interactive. Following Fortitude performances, and until now, we have offered a ‘surround sound’ format (with singers surrounding the audience). And we mix up all the parts: mostly SAT (Soprano, Alto, Tenor), but sometimes there are Bass parts. So there’s this surrounding sound, and we walk, sometimes going either side of the audience, then to the front and back, right and left.
Song Forager
Really it’s about making a resonant soundscape.
Immersive, yes. Not quite like a ‘gong bath’ because I wouldn’t say it was noisy but rather like being in a sound-bath with only unamplified human voices. I try also, always, to include a trio or a smaller group so that at some stage the audience in the middle get a surprise when the sound shrinks, and then when it comes back out, expanding again.
