Scratch Night with Ollella
How Space Shapes Sound
EVENT NOTES
Doors for this event will open at 6:30 PM. Town Hall events are approximately 75 minutes long.
Tickets to this event are free, but please pre-register. All ages are welcome!
Why don’t we often see symphonic music in clubs, or rock music in concert halls — and what shifts when we try?
Symphonic music has evolved through concert halls, designed to project acoustically in naturally reverberant rooms. Rock music, by contrast, was born in clubs: amplified, built for energy and proximity. These traditions developed in different spaces, for different audiences, with different listening experiences. As a cellist working within contemporary songwriting, Ollella often finds herself standing between these two worlds. So what happens when you bring them together?
This talk unpacks what Ollella has learned from merging these genres in her own work, making what she calls ‘symphonic-indie’ music. She will examine how arrangement, amplification, and instrumentation shape emotional impact through performance and recorded music. Rather than choosing one tradition over the other, this evening explores what new language can emerge when space, scale, and sound are considered together.
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Ellie Barber a.k.a. Ollella (pronounced oh-lel-uh) began her career as a musician early, singing before she could talk. Trained as a classical cellist since the age of nine, the Seattle indie-folk artist merges her technical string background with authoritative vocals and live-looping. Described as “really outstanding” by NPR Music and “so tastefully done” by Michelle Zauner (Japanese Breakfast), Ollella’s sound is organic with a side of edge, pulling on influences such as Feist, Cat Power, and Sylvan Esso. She has performed on NPR Tiny Desk Concerts, had music featured in film and TV, and is a frequent collaborator with others.
About Town Hall Residencies
Every year, Town Hall selects exceptional local artists and scholars for paid residencies where they engage with Town Hall programs and collaborate with our programming team to develop original events for the community. Read more about our residency program here.
Presented by Town Hall Seattle.
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