This website and all content copyright 2007-2023 Loretta O'Sullivan loscello@aol.com 201-906-0578 29 Myrtle Avenue Edgewater, NJ 07020 Photography: David Rodgers Site Design: Canfield Design Studios, Inc. I spend much of my musical life listening closely to singers as they express the words of operas, oratorios, and cantatas. As a continuo player, I have the pleasure of responding to a singer in empathy—joining in melody, "painting" words, and adding punctuation to sentences. Creating improvisations with my friends—poets, video artists, singers, and instrumentalists—calls upon the same desire to connect and respond to their work—perhaps with added freedom! "Bird Songs" Poetry by Francine Ringold, Reading and Cello Improvisation by Loretta O'Sullivan Click here for YouTube video Photo: Paige Cody on Unsplash Airborne Haikus by Marilyn Miller Reading and Cello Improvisation by Loretta O'Sullivan Click here for YouTube video CLICK HERE for Radio Interview with Erika Funke at WVIA Videos by Kathleen Mackenzie, Cello Improvisations by Loretta O'Sullivan AZTEC SONG Click here for YouTube video BEFORE I SLEEP Click here for YouTube video HAPPENSTANCE Click here for YouTube video BIRDS BEAKS is a poem without words. Kathleen's video of contrasting imagery is accompanied by Loretta's close response in short dramatic gestures. Click here for YouTube video ZEUS is a montage video based on a poem by Kathleen that tells an ancient and timely story without resolution. Loretta chose to play a lament that expresses contradictory feelings of anguish and anger. Click here for YouTube video I AM POPE is a video inspired by Kathleen's poetic elegy to Pope Joan. Loretta plays a ballad underscoring the poignant story of this legendary Pope. Click here for YouTube video PERSEPHONE Click here for YouTube video BLACKBIRD follows a woman's stream of consciousness as she sips her cup of tea. Kathleen interweaves myth and current events to reveal our human tragedies. Loretta's playing reflects the rhythms of the story, ending with a lingering and haunting whisper from the cello. Click here for YouTube video Cello, Harp and Voice Improvisation with Ruth Cunningham Click here for YouTube video Photo: Frank McKenna on Unsplash