Today’s gorgeous music was recommended by loyal reader and commenter Chris Lomaka. Canadian-American composer and cellist Zoë Keating is going places. Her original score for HBO’s Oslo was nominated for a 2021 Emmy for Outstanding Music, and the soundtrack is a real emotional rollercoaster. It just feels cinematographic. Whether dreamy and evocative or tense and energy-filled, all her recordings are created using just a cello. What a treat! Don’t get me wrong. I love piano and violin, but the cello is such an expressive instrument. It’s wonderful to hear such a lush, textural instrument take the lead for a change.

Keating has been playing the cello since she was eight, and her deep knowledge of her instrument means though she’s using computers to layer her cello, it all still feels organic and like a lovely, natural extension of herself. Most of her compositions start slowly, then build and build until you feel surrounded by the music. Such lovely stuff!

A few years ago, Keating lost her husband to stage IV non-smoker’s lung cancer, and she talks about how music and her audience helped her recover from the unthinkable loss. I really recommend this brave young woman’s inspiring Ted Talk to anyone dealing with loss.

You can follow the lovely Zoë Keating on her website and on Instagram and YouTube.