We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.
supported by
mattemerymusic
mattemerymusic thumbnail
Ben Moore
Ben Moore thumbnail
/

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.” The single is a spry and playful journey for cello, McCooey’s short, chirpy phrases contrasting with longer melodic strokes. The track is evocative of the bird’s movements: a fluttering, a ruffling of feathers, a warble or chirp… all the while expansively soaring in the lower register. It is a short and sweet introduction to what is a fantastic concept album.

credits

from The Conference of the Birds, track released January 29, 2021
Artwork by Marit Reezigt
Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Jesse Oberin

Released by Rhodium—RP009S1
www.rhodiumpublishing.com

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Ceridwen McCooey image

Ceridwen McCooey Melbourne, Australia

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

contact / help

Contact Ceridwen McCooey

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like Ceridwen McCooey, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring Riley Pinkerton (aka The Rat Queen) from the theatrical NYC rockers, Castle Rat.
listen now