Advanced Diploma in Musical Theatre Performance (St. Clair College)
Aurora McClennan (She/Her) likes to wear many hats: actress, singer, writer, producer, teacher, tea connoisseur, etc. She’s pure dynamite in a small body. Aurora is a 2020 St. Clair College Music Theatre Performance graduate and a 2017 Cawthra Park Regional Arts Program – Vocal graduate. She holds grade 11 voice and Intermediate Harmony certificates from the Royal Conservatory of Music. She has trained with opera singers, classic voice and jazz artists, as well as some of Broadways best, like Joanna Gleason!
As an actor, Aurora has been seen as Dr. McClane in the premiere production of The Good Guys, Lily in Kathleen Mills’ The Storyteller, Donner in A St. Clair Christmas 2019 and Viola in Twelfth Night, directed by Olivier winner Heather Davies, with original music by Michael Karloff. She will be reprising her role in The Storyteller this summer in Hamilton as part of Hamilton Fringe, directed by Olivia Daniels.
Aurora is the Artistic Director and Production Manager of The Flare Productions, where she gets to put her passions into practice, creating a space and open space community for all artists to share their voices and tell their stories. Since opening in September 2020, Aurora has produced multiple virtual cabarets, a full length virtual production of Ordinary Days, a virtual interactive comedy special; and a 12 part YouTube series about collaborating and the importance of telling stories with her in-development series, The Love You Make. This project was a quarantine highlight, as she got to work with artists from Canada, the United States and The UK!
As a writer, she is hard at work on multiple musicals, including The Good Guys with music by Fynn Cuthbert, and The Baroness, which received its first reading last spring with Missus Productions’ Re:Vision.
Aurora is very excited to continue to teach voice and music theory. With over 15 years of music training and experience, she is very happy to share her knowledge and help spread the love of music. She is a three time Gold RCM Festival winner, Gold Hamilton Music Festival and Gold and Silver Peel Music Festival winner, as well as the recipient of the Heidi Cyfko award for musical theatre performance and multiple other performance awards. Aurora specializes in classical voice, musical theatre, pop, jazz and folk. And, of course, music theory – her guilty pleasure.
Get to know Aurora…Beyond the Bio!
Hobbies: Reading, painting and writing
Musical influences: Stephen Sondheim and Shania Taub for writing; Louise Pitre, Liza Minnelli and Elton John for performance.
Favourite food: French Fries! Always and forever.
Least favourite food: Soup
Favourite music: Classic rock and folk, musical theatre, jazz, funk and Motown
Favourite song: Right now it’d have to be either Shambala by Three Dog Night or Jackie Onassis by Sammie Rae & The Friends
Favourite movie: That Thing You Do!!
Favouirite movie music: The Lord of the Rings series, of course
Favourite musical theatre/opera: Anything Sondheim, but especially Merrily We Roll Along. Diana: The Musical is the next best, though.
Best quote from your teacher: “Be Fearless and Never Apologize”
Favourite quote: “And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make” :)
Favourite book: It changes constantly, but most consistently probably Any Man by Amber Tamblyn or either of Stephen Sondheim’s books.
Latest Homework from Aurora
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Aurora’s Homework – Dec 17th & 18th, 2022
Hey everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful holidays and a Happy New Year with your loved ones. ?
Sahira
What we worked on: We reviewed “How Far I’ll Go” and decided to begin working on “O Christmas Tree” linked here is a folder I created her with will have all her sheet music moving forward, so save it. I’ll upload a new version of her sheet music tonight.
What to work on over the Holidays: Start learning O Christmas Tree. I’ll upload an instrumental to the folder to practice with either tonight or tomorrow.
How parents can support practice: Save the Google Folder so she has easy access to everything for practicing!
Lizzie
What we worked on: We reviewed our Treble Clef and Bass Clef and then learned about the half note and the eight note!
What to work on over the Holidays: Please work on pages 30 – 33 in your book and, if you feel like you want to, have a look at pages 24 – 29, but this isn’t necessary! Focus on the pages just about the half note.
How parents can support practice: Help her read the instructions in her booklet. And make sure she brings the book with her to her first lesson back, in the new year.
Isla
What we worked on: We started looking at the song “Dead Mom” from Beetlejuice. Linked there is the sheet music. And here is an instrumental to practice with.
What to work on over the holidays: Focus on reviewing your breath and vowels in “A Guy That I’d Kind of Be In To” like we talked about yesterday. Start looking at Dead Mom when you have a chance or you get bored of your other song.
How to practice most effectively: Practice dropping your jaw for the rounder vowels. The more space the better! We also want to start looking at how we can raise your soft palate when you sing to give you more space to vibrate and resonate. Here’s a video you can watch to get a head start. Don’t stress yourself out over it – just try some of the exercises and see what feels best for you.
When practicing Dead Mom, I want you to visualize where your voice is going and where your sound is going. You can try my hippie dippie little exercise of sending your voice and inch above your head – you had such a clear, strong sound when you did this, so I encourage you to try again by yourself and see how it feels.
Raavie
What we worked on: We began working on the song “Born to Entertain”. Here’s the sheet music, a track to listen to to learn the song, and an instrumental to practice with!
What to practice over the holidays: Keep working on your vowels in Talking to the Moon and begin learning Born to Entertain.
How to practice most effectively: For Talking to the Moon – we talked about breath and really strengthening your rounded vowels, so I want you to keep exploring that so we can hopefully call the song learned and done in January.
For Born to Entertain, I just want you to become familiar with the song. I’m linking a few similar singers to have a listen to. This song is super fun, super jazzy, so have fun, mess around, be silly! Keep your sound very open and round, like we discussed. The more we drop our jaw on those higher notes, the more sound we get and the more they ring.
Preferred Books for Aurora’s Students
Click to buy them here, and they’ll come right to your house! What could be easier?
Anatomy of the Voice
This book is the first to explain, in clear and concise language, the anatomy and mechanics of the mysterious and complex bodily system we call the voice. Beautifully illustrated with more than 100 detailed images, Anatomy of the Voice guides voice teachers and students, vocal coaches, professional singers and actors, and anyone interested in the voice through the complex landscape of breathing, larynx, throat, face, and jaw. Theodore Dimon, an internationally recognized authority on the subject, as well as an expert in the Alexander Technique, makes unfamiliar terrain accessible and digestible by describing each vocal system in short, manageable sections and explaining complex terminology.
Broadway Presents!
A delightful collection of musical theatre songs that kids love to perform, from a variety of shows. Using original scores, the songs have been selected and adapted with the ranges and skills of young singers in mind. Included in this collection are short summaries for each of the musicals, a dramatic and character set-up for each song, audition tips, 16-bar cut suggestions, and audio tracks of piano accompaniments.
Full Voice Workbook Series
