In 2014 Kelly Cooper moved to Montreal and took interest in cello. From then on, she took private cello lessons with Violaine Brochu from 2014-2017. She also joined the McGill music summer camps in 2016 and 2017 to gain more experience in playing with small ensembles.
During high school, Kelly was part of the string orchestra, symphonic orchestra, jazz band, and the school’s musical. In 2016 she took part in the West Island Youth String Orchestra. After high school, she began her studies in music at Vanier College. From 2017 to 2020, she was in the West Island Youth Symphony Orchestra performing. She has been in the Orchestre Symphonique des Jeunes de Montréal since 2019.
In 2018 Kelly had the opportunity to take part in a documentary called Chaakapesh. she got to perform a solo at a concert held by Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal in her community of Ouje-Bougoumou. She was able to meet a cellist from OSM, Anne Burden who gave her a lesson on her solo piece. It was recorded and put in the documentary. She also has experience playing in the pit orchestra for musicals and operettas. Kelly played in the pit orchestra for three Gilbert and Sullivan operettas held by McGill Savoy Society.
The Rising Star Award acknowledges an individual’s hard work and dedication to their arts endeavor and who are committed to bringing their art to a professional level. Kelly Cooper from Oujé-Bougoumou has already achieved a remarkable degree of musical success. As a cellist, she has performed with the West Island Youth Orchestra for three years, she performs in a trio for elders in Point-Claire Quebec, and she was the featured soloist with the Orchestra Symphonique de Montreal this past September in Oujé-Bougoumou.