EPK — Celloquacious

(Keely Mackey-Gonzales)

Cellist • Composer • Interdisciplinary Artist

 

Artist Overview

Celloquacious is the immersive musical project of cellist–composer Keely Mackey-Gonzales, blending live-looped cello, atmospheric sound design, and visual storytelling to create deeply transportive performances. Drawing from contemporary classical, ambient, experimental, and world influences, her work bridges acoustic virtuosity with innovative electronics, often paired with original macrophotography/videography and movement-based collaborations.

 

Keely’s performances have brought her to major festivals, art institutions, and interdisciplinary stages across the U.S. and Europe, including NYCEMF, the Turn Up Festival, the Hear Here Festival, World Composer's Concert in Vienna, and the iconic Meow Wolf. Her recordings and compositions have earned national recognition, including multiple New Mexico Music Awards and several International Songwriting Competition honors.

 

Notable Performances & Festivals

• 2025 Headliner — WAVETRAILS Festival of Light and Sound (Albuquerque)

​

• 2025 Performer — Zozobra Festival, 6-piece orchestra for Fire Dance & Burning (50,000 audience)

​

• 2025 Opening Act for Zoe Keating — Meow Wolf Santa Fe

​

• 2024 Performer  — WAVETRAILS Festival of Light and Sound (Albuquerque)

​

• 2024 Hear Here Festival & Residency Awardee — Keshet Dance & Center for the Arts + City of Albuquerque

​

• 2024 Tour with Yung Chen Lhmao — Regional tour for album release on Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records

​

• 2021 NYCEMF — New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival with Iranian Composer, Madyar Ghazinejad

​

• 2021 Headliner for AMP Concerts "Emerging from the Pandemic" Concert Series (SOLD OUT)

​

• 2020 TURN UP Multimedia Festival — University of Arizona/ Experimental Music & Feminist Sound Festival

​

• 2020 Downtown Gallup Rocks Concert Series — Performance funded by the Mimi & Mortimer Levitt Foundation

​

• 2020 Performer — New Mexico Music Awards Ceremony 

​

• 2019 World Composer's Concert with Delphi Project Quartet, Vienna, AU

​

• 2019 New Mexico Composer's Showcase at Keshet Center for the Arts, Albuquerque

​

​

 

Awards & Recognition

• 2025 Featured Cellist on opening track of Rotten Apple, nominated for Best Soundtrack at Auguri Film Festival

​

• 2025 Selected for Hodgepodge Shorts Deux Film Screening — Music Video for Transfiguration

​

• 2024 New Mexico Music Awards Winner — Angels (Ambient Category)

​

• 2023 International Songwriting Competition Semi-Finalist — Transfiguration (Instrumental Category)
   

• 2023 NMMA Double Finalist — Archetype (World Music) & Transfiguration (Ambient/New Age)

​

• 2022 UETF Mini Documentary Feature of Grant Winner Projects (10/100 grant winners were featured).

​​

• 2022 High Desert Screening Albuquerque, Official Selection for Music Video, Keely Mackey, Cello
   

• 2022–2023 UETF Resiliency Residency Grant Recipient — City of Albuquerque
   

• 2021 ISC Semi-Finalist — Out at Sea, selected from 22,000 entries (top 11%)
   

• 2020 NMMA Winner — Water: Out at Sea (Ambient/Contemporary Instrumental Category)
   

 

Selected Collaborations & Projects

• UETF (Urban Enhancement Trust Fund) Grant Recipient Interdisciplinary Residency with Fusion Theatre — Created new album, taught macrophotography workshops, and produced an immersive multidisciplinary album release performance integrating dance and macro-imagery projections.

​

• Written, Co-Produced and Directed several multimedia performances with multiple musicians and dancers, 100s in attendance

​

• International collaborations with Madyar Ghazinezad (Iran) for NYCEMF, Jaye Marsh The Wild Flute (Canada) for Toronto and New York Performances, and Melodious Ceremonia partner, Eli del Puerto (Mexico)

​

• Melodious Ceremonia, Delphi Project, Folding Space Conduction Ensemble, Stitch of Sandbox Music

​

• Live-looping, cello, electronics, and ambient sound design for performance art, dance, and multimedia installations.
   

• Scoring & soundtrack work, including film features and visual media collaborations.
   

 

Music & Media

Listen:
• Spotify
• Apple Music

All Streaming Platforms and on the Music page of this website
 

Watch:
• Live performances
• Music videos
• Festival features

​

 

Press Quotes

 

"Spellbinding, time-suspending collection of songs that she seems to summon from anther time and place".

— Mel Minter, Music Columnist, Albuquerque the Magazine

February 2024

 

"Keely's work has an air of ritual ceremony that's deeply emotional."

— Melissa Velasco, Writer, Nertz Magazing, Music Edition

August 2024

​

"The next artist (Celloquacious), just blew everybody away".

—]Jose Antonio Ponce, Ceremony Host and Founder, New Mexico Music Awards, 2020

 

Stage Plot & Technical Requirements

Celloquacious Live Setup Includes:

• Electric/acoustic cello
   

• Live looping and effects (Boss ME 70/ BOSS RC 600)

​

• Stereo DI to house sound
   

• Projection capabilities (if visual components are included)
   

(I can format a downloadable tech rider PDF for you.)

​

 

Short Bio 

Celloquacious is the sonic world of cellist–composer Keely Mackey-Gonzales, blending looped cello, electronics, and visual art into immersive, cinematic performances. She has appeared at NYCEMF, TURN UP Multimedia Festival, Meow Wolf, WAVETRAILS Festival, and the Zozobra Festival, and toured regionally with Yung Chen Lhmao on Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records label. Her work has earned multiple awards, including New Mexico Music Awards wins and several International Songwriting Competition semifinalist honors.

 

Contact

Booking & Media:
📧 keelymackeygonzales@gmail.com
🌐 www.keelymackey.com
IG: @celloquacious

FB: @celloquacious

YT: @celloquacious