BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Imagine you’re performing a piece of music.
Now imagine you’re playing it on a radio station that reaches hundreds of thousands of listeners each month.
Then add this to your picture: the performance is a live competition. Immediately afterwards, you’ll receive feedback — on air — from music industry experts who will tell you how you went.
The Talent is a rare opportunity that offers exactly that. And while it may sound intimidating at first, it’s an invaluable experience to the 20 Melbourne musicians who decide to give it their best and enter this competition.
It’s a pretty big deal. But luckily, The Talent is facilitated by a team of “kind and supportive” arts professionals, according to this year’s winner Ceridwen McCooey. She says The Talent feels positive, inspiring, and important, “because it gives young musicians an opportunity to be heard”.
In this interview, we chat with Ceridwen about what it was like to enter and win The Talent this year on 3MBS.
Ceridwen has also achieved industry-wide success in the past few years, having been selected for the Melbourne Recital Centre’s Accelerando program, a number of scholarships and awards at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, and a commission for the Arts Centre Melbourne Memory: 5x5x5 program.
Ceridwen, congratulations on winning The Talent! It must have taken a lot of courage to enter — such a competitive event, and you made it! How did you find the experience?
Thank you! I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and am very glad that I was able to take part.
I had never performed live to air before, and so I’m glad to have had that opportunity. I found everyone at 3MBS to be so kind and supportive; it made the whole thing really positive and inspiring.
There were so many activities to take part in, from the performance aspect to the live interview. What really stood out to you?
Everything about the experience was wonderful, but I enjoyed the actual performance the best. I really love performing my own music, and so to be able to do that was so rewarding.
Second to that would be the live interview, maybe because it feels like a different sort of performance. Talking to other people about music always gives me more clarity.
The intention behind The Talent is to fill in that space between student musician and professional musician; of course, this really shows that you have become a professional musician. What does it mean to you to be stepping up into that role — a defining moment in your career?
Gosh, I’m not sure I agree! [Laughs] I don’t know the point when one changes from student to professional. I still feel like I have an enormous amount to learn.
In saying that, I hope I never get to a point where I feel like I have nothing to learn. I guess what I can say with certainty is that with every opportunity I am lucky enough to be a part of, I grow a little bit more. I understand myself a little better, and I gain confidence. These are two attributes that I think professionals have, and so hopefully I am incrementally moving in that direction, and maybe I will arrive there one day — when I’m in my 90s!
I’m really interested to learn how you feel about entering the industry right now, with all the challenges it holds for live music. What gives you the drive to pursue this amazing, difficult, and fulfilling career?
Without wanting to sound sappy, I don’t think I could do anything else. I have grappled with these questions a lot, asking myself, how am I going to earn money? If I am good enough. If I’m willing to make the sacrifices that come with being a musician.
The answer I have landed on is actually to ask myself, ‘Is it working for now?’. And if the answer is yes — yes I’m earning money now, and yes I am receiving positive feedback and opportunities now — then I am going to keep going, even if it means keeping my two casuals jobs for the rest of my life.
The one question I have never had difficulty answering is whether or not I find it fulfilling. Music has never, ever not been fulfilling to me. It makes sense to me, and is often one of the only things that feels real. The pandemic definitely threw a spanner in the works, but I don’t think it ever made me question what I wanted to do. It took away performance opportunities, but I was still able to compose and that really kept me going. I relied very heavily on music during the pandemic as escapism, and that only strengthened my appreciation for its existence.
Ceridwen, that’s entirely inspiring. Now, before we go, there were 20 participants in The Talent alongside you — and I’m wondering what you would like to say to them, acknowledging how hard they worked and how far they’ve come, too?
I am always so incredibly impressed by classical musicians and how hard they work, so I think everyone should be very proud, especially on the radio — it’s kind of hard when you can’t see your audience.
We are all at different places and different ages, and I think it’s so cool that we all had this opportunity together. I hope we all cross paths again in the future!
At the end of the day, why do you think The Talent is such an important event in the arts industry calendar?
I think it’s important because it gives young musicians an opportunity to be heard.
Like we were talking about earlier, there is no doubt that being a musician can be challenging. And so it is events like these that make it possible for musicians to keep going and expanding their professional lives.
In running The Talent, 3MBS is bringing audiences and musicians together, creating a relationship between its existing listeners and future artists. It is using its established reputation to promote less-known voices.
Bonus questions! 3MBS asks Ceridwen…
A point of difference in your performances on The Talent was the use of electronics. Do you consider this part of a trend within a chamber music context? How much is this a part of your regular performance practice?
I think that composers are always looking for new ways to transfer messages, narratives, and emotions — and music is about finding the best sound to do that.
To me, electronics are just another means to transfer sound. While I think electronics are becoming more acceptable, and therefore more explored, I still feel a certain amount of apprehension about using looping pedals in the classical world. Because classical music is often thought of as a tradition, bringing in something so contemporary can feel confronting.
However, I think classical music has always had a strong connection to its historical period. It is often a tool used to reflect society. It tells stories about people, traditions, and cultures — and I think that the incorporation of electronic media in classical music is a relevant tool in telling the stories of today’s world. We are a technology-heavy society, and I think our classical music should be able to reflect that sometimes.
Looping is a big part of my solo performance practice. I have always worried about not being ‘good enough’, and looping helps me overcome that fear. It gives me something that feels ‘mine’. I struggle a lot with the idea that the way I play Beethoven is going to be compared to how every other cellist plays Beethoven. It feels like there is a ‘wrong’ and ‘right’ way, and I never felt like I could play it the ‘right’ way. Writing my own music gave me a sense of authority that I just couldn’t acquire when playing solo classical repertoire.
How did you find the experience of receiving performance feedback for pieces you composed? And more broadly, has your experience on The Talent affected the way you perform?
I found it really rewarding!
I am always slightly worried about performing my own music using electronic looping pedals in a classical context, because I am never quite sure how it will be received. I was very fortunate that the mentors on the The Talent were supportive and generous with their feedback, and made the experience very positive.
Performing on the The Talent has offered me more confidence in my own music and performance ability.
Your affinity with the cello is obvious. As a composer, do you write for other instrumentation? Does it interest you?
I do write for other instruments, though I have not done a great deal of it yet! I mainly write for other instrumentations when taking part in composer development programs, usually because it forces me to set aside time from solo practice and composition. For example, I wrote a string quartet for the Flinders Quartet’s emerging composers program.
At the moment, I am currently writing a piece for the wonderful Ensemble Offspring. I hope to write more for other instrumentations, as it does interest me greatly.
Listen to cellist Ceridwen McCooey’s performance in Episode 4 of Season 1, The Talent 2022. This episode also features violist Hillary Cheng. You can also hear the Finale episode, featuring Ceridwen, Zerena Zhang, and Louise Turnbull.
Visit The Talent 3MBS to explore every episode with these Melbourne musicians.
Images supplied.
