About

Short bio:

Alara Spencer is a composer, songwriter, and musician who has a vision of creating meaningful and enjoyable music while uplifting other Canadians’ musical expressions through experimentation, collaboration, performance, teaching, and continuous learning. Her music focuses on many aspects of life inspired by the four seasons and touches on a variety of genres. Alara graduated from Grant MacEwan University in 2024 with a Bachelor of Music (Major in Composition), using her degree as a source of inspiration for her to collaborate with artists from all over Canada and research Canadian identity.

Longer Bio:

Alara Spencer was born in Edmonton, Alberta. Growing up, she took part in many school music ensembles, playing saxophone, bassoon, and singing in choir. Alara began writing music in grade seven, with her first composition intended for grade one concert band and turning to choral writing in high school. Her journey with choral music eventually led to her joining T.I.M.E’s jazz choir ensemble, FORM, during the 2019/2020 season. Throughout her grade school years, Alara had many mentors including Dr. Allan Gilliland, Dan Davis, and her high school band directors, all of which encouraged her to attend Grant MacEwan’s Bachelor of Music program.

During her time at MacEwan, Alara took on many opportunities, including performances at Towers (MacEwan’s Pub), writing for the a capella ensemble, exploring Scottish-Canadian music through a research-creation project and presentation, taking part in the music program’s student advisory committee, and more. While working on her degree, she also wrote and released two digital folk EPs, one in 2022, and one in 2024.

Collaborating with the many musicians at MacEwan inspired Alara to begin her Canadian art learning journey, starting with the 2SLGBTQIA+ artist features project on her Instagram page, where she interviews artists with varying identities to help others learn about the experiences of “queer canadian artists navigating the music scene.” She is currently working on branching this project out to include not only musicians, but also visual and other types of artists.

Since graduating with a Bachelor of Music (Major in Composition) in 2024, Alara has co-founded two ensembles: The Shadow Tones Acapella Ensemble and Bards of Borealis, a Canadian Traditional music trio. She has also taken part in various composition recitals and is currently open for gig work and composition commissions, as well as private lessons in saxophone, composition, beginner flute, and beginner voice.