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The Conference of the Birds

by Ceridwen McCooey

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1.
The Hoopoe 01:12
2.
3.
The Parrot 01:56
4.
The Peacock 01:59
5.
6.
The Osprey 02:23
7.
8.

about

Ceridwen McCooey is an Australian cellist and composer based in Melbourne. McCooey’s journey with her beloved cello began at age nine, when she was told she was too small for double bass. It became a fortunate sentence, paving the way for various successes early on: selection for the Melbourne Recital Centre’s three-year scholarship program Accelerando, three invitations to perform at the VCE Season of Excellence, and the Kate Flowers Memorial Scholarship award through the University of Melbourne. Her love of improvisation and experimentation earned her 1st place in the Allan Zavod Performer’s Award when she performed an original composition for cello and looper; the work in question, The Conference of the Birds, is now being released through Rhodium as her debut LP. Recently, McCooey was commissioned by the Arts Centre Melbourne to write a work as part of their emerging composers program: 5x5x5 Memory 2020. She hopes to continue her studies at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music in her Honours year and is also looking into a Masters in Composition abroad.   

McCooey’s passion lies in creating music that does not conform to perceptions of the cello as a classical instrument. The Conference of the Birds is based on an ancient poem by Farid Ud-Din Attar, a Persian Sufi poet in the twelfth century. The poem describes a journey where one bird, the Hoopoe, calls upon his fellow birds to join him on a voyage to find The Great Simorg (the mightiest bird of them all and a higher being). The Conference of the Birds is McCooey’s musical interpretation of each bird refusing to go on this journey and why they decline. The Nightingale, the lead single from the project, represents the first bird to respond to the Hoopoe’s summons. The Nightingale states that he is too in love with the rose to take the journey. He says “it is demanding to be filled with such love; my desire for the slender rose is sufficient.” He does not need a higher power like The Great Simorg; his lover, the rose, is enough for him. In McCooey’s own words, “In writing this moment, I wanted to capture the tranquil naivety that comes with intense love. The pureness of heart that the Nightingale shows and his utter devotion to the rose. I wanted to capture lightness and joy and love.” Two more birds follow in the form of singles; The Parrot and The Sea Heron. With the full release on April 30th we meet another four birds, the album concluding with The Conference itself—where you’ll hear snippets from each of the preceding seven tracks as McCooey effortlessly combines all of the thematic material into a beautiful finale.

The album is evocative of the bird’s movements: soaring, fluttering, whistling, and chirping its way through the journey. It is a fantastic first-step for McCooey and a delightful concept album.

credits

released April 30, 2021

Recorded, Mixed, and Mastered by Jesse Oberin

Released by Rhodium—RP009
www.rhodiumpublishing.com

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Ceridwen McCooey Melbourne, Australia

Ceridwen McCooey is an Australian cellist and composer based in Naarm (Melbourne).

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