Keely Mackey-Gonzales speaks through her cello. Known on stage as Celloquacious, she is an award winning cellist, composer and sound healing artist based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and her cello sound baths are unlike any other: every sound is played live on electroacoustic cello and layered in real time with looping, with no prerecorded tracks at all.
Meet Keely
Keely began playing cello at eight years old and went on to study cello performance at both the undergraduate and graduate level. After four decades with the instrument, she now performs on electroacoustic cello and a six string electric cello, using live looping and effects to build what she calls a virtual cello orchestra. She won a 2020 New Mexico Music Award for her original piece Out at Sea and has since earned seven awards for her composition and performance.
Her sound healing work grew alongside a dedicated yoga practice, lifelong contemplative and spiritual disciplines, and time spent in nature and silence. Her compositions are inspired by the five elements, earth, air, fire, water and ether, and she describes the feeling simply: “When the music comes through me, there are no words, only images of sound.”
Cello sound baths and sound journeys
Keely creates immersive elemental sound journeys that invite deep listening, relaxation, reflection and connection. Drawing on the heart opening resonance of the cello, its harmonics and ethereal effects, each experience is shaped in the moment to respond to the people in the room. As she points out, the cello has the range of the human voice, which is part of why it can feel so deeply moving.
Her offerings include sound baths for relaxation and deep rest, sound journeys woven into yoga classes and meditation, custom experiences for retreats and conferences, corporate wellness sessions and inclusive interfaith gatherings. She has offered her work for New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light, the Albuquerque Center for Spiritual Living, yoga studios and wellness centers, traditional curandera and curandero healing circles, Reiki practitioners, and Indigenous community gatherings. Rather than prescribing a belief system, she offers sound as an invitation to slow down, listen deeply and reconnect.
First Fridays Renew
In Albuquerque, Keely leads First Fridays Renew, a live looping cello sound healing evening at Bhava Yoga Studio on Central Ave SE. Each gathering carries its own intention, inspired by the seasons, the New Moon and the rhythms of the natural world. In her words, it is not a performance but a space to rest, receive and reconnect with yourself in community. She also performs as Melodious Ceremonia with vocalist Eli del Puerto, creating responsive sound journeys and ceremonial concerts across New Mexico.
“Relax. Enjoy deep rest. Rejuvenate. Be inspired!”
Keely Mackey-Gonzales
Music for life’s transitions
Some people have come to call Keely a death doula through music. For more than two decades she has played at bedsides, during final breaths, at funerals and at celebrations of life in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and beyond, offering her cello as a bridge between worlds and a gentle comfort for families.
Bring a sound journey to your community
Keely performs throughout the Southwest and beyond for sound baths, retreats, yoga events, corporate wellness programs, community gatherings and private ceremonies. See upcoming sound journeys and get in touch at keelymackey.com.
Visit Keely Mackey Sound Healing
With love, Infused Lights. This spotlight is part of the Infused Lights Light Network, a free directory of friends doing light-filled work. Photos courtesy of Keely Mackey (keelymackey.com), with sound journey photos by Keith Langerman Photography, used with credit and a link back to her site.
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