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  • South African cellist Abel Selaocoe is redefining the parameters of the cello. He moves seamlessly across a plethora of genres and styles, from collaborations with world musicians and beatboxers, to concerto performances and solo classical recitals. Abel combines virtuosic performance with improvisation, singing and body percussion, and has a special interest in curating recital programmes that highlight the links between Western and non-Western musical traditions, with view to helping classical music reach a more diverse audience.

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  • Having completed his International Artist Diploma at the Royal Northern College of Music in July 2018, Abel has already performed extensively across the UK, at venues including Cadogan Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Sage Gateshead, and Bridgewater Hall. He has appeared as soloist with orchestras including BBC Philharmonic and BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and has performed with orchestras across South Africa, including Kwa-Zulu Natal, Johannesburg and Cape Town Philharmonics.


    Selaocoe is a keen chamber musician, having made his Wigmore Hall debut in 2013 with composer Colin Matthews. He is the co-founder of BBC Introducing ensemble Kabantu, and in 2016 formed Chesaba – a trio specializing in music from the African continent, including compositions by Abel. He has enjoyed close collaborations with musicians from a medley of genres, including Tim Garland, Seckou Keita, Giovanni Sollima, Gwilym Simcock, and 12ensemble. In recent seasons, Abel has curated programmes at Kings Place, the Aldeburgh & Oxford Chamber Music Festivals, and has performed in both the Late Night BBC Proms, and BBC Proms Extra series.


    In the 2019/20 season Selaocoe will make a number of world premieres including Sir Karl Jenkin’s new Miserere (a passion for our time), and Barak Schmool’s African Concerto with Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jung-Ho Pak in January 2020. Selaocoe’s orchestral engagements include Philharmonia Orchestra, Sinfonia Cymru, Manchester Concert Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Selaocoe returns to EFG London Jazz Festival for multiple performances, including a performance at Kings Place with percussionist Bernhard Schimpelsberger, and joining Art Ensemble of Chicago as guest soloist at the Barbican Centre to celebrate the ensemble’s 50th anniversary.


    Abel has recently been selected for Serious Music’s Take Five - a development scheme for the UK’s most talented jazz composer-performers, and has been the recipient of multiple awards, including the Standard Bank Young Artists Award and the Sir Karl Jenkins Award in association with Classic FM. He is grateful to Help Musicians UK for awarding him the Karl Motesiczky Scholarship.

    2019/20 season | 401 words. Not to be altered without permission.

Performances

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Chesaba

Chesaba is an electrifying trio of African celebration - an eclectic blend of ’cello, kora, n’goni, African percussion, double bass and voice, accompanied by the languages of Bambara, Zulu, Sotho, Tswana and more. Embroidered through the music are improvisations influenced by African, jazz and classical music.


Chesaba has a vibrant and virtuosic rhythmic expression coupled with powerful traditional melodies. The music is made of a raw and colourful blend of African cultures, from Griot music – a tradition spanning centuries of civilisation in West Africa, being passed down through the generations, carrying with it an ancient culture of story-telling and musical celebration – to the soulful South African township music that expresses its powerful history.


As award-winning artists, they have played in prestigious venues and festivals including the Amsterdam Muziekgebouw’s Cello Biennale, WOMAD, Bimhuis, The Bridgewater Hall and Kings Place with Manchester Collective. The trio also has a passion for instilling diversity within its community through education and workshops.

Repertoire

Concerto repertoire


Boccherini
Cello Concerto in B-flat major


Tim Garland
Double Concerto for Cello and Saxophone


Haydn
Cello Concerto in C major


Lalo
Cello Concerto in D minor


Saint-Saëns
Cello Concerto in A minor


Schumann
Cello Concerto in A minor


Shostakovich 
Cello Concerto No.1 in E Major


Tchaikovsky
Variations on a Rococo Theme


Sonatas


Boccherini
Cello Sonata in A major


Bridge
Sonata in D minor


Britten
Cello Sonata in C major


Debussy
Sonata in D minor


Francouer
Sonata in F major


Grieg
Sonata in A minor


Shostakovich
Cello Sonata in D minor


Other


J.S. Bach
Cello Suite No.1 - No.5


Britten
Cello Suite No.1


Bloch
Prayer (from Jewish Life) No.1


Breinschmid
Skubek's Delight


Bruch
Kol Nidre


Casals
Song of the Birds


Davidoff
At the Fountain


Elgar
Salut d'amour


Fauré
Apres un Reve


Leif Lidström
Lady of Charlotte


Sir James MacMillan
Kiss on Wood


Martinů
Variations on a Theme of Rossini


Popper
Hungarian Rhapsody


Giovanni Sollima
Lamentation


R. Schumann
Adagio and Allegro
Fantasiestücke, Op.12


 

Chamber music

J.S. Bach
The Art of Fugue


Beethoven
String Quartet No.1, Op.18


Brahms
Sextets in B flat and G major


George Crumb
Black Angels


Dvorák
Piano Quintet No.2 in A major
String Quartets No.10 and No.13


Franck
Piano Quintet in F minor


Haydn
Piano Trio No.2
String Quartets


Leif Lidström
Piano Trio No.1


Matthews
String Quartet No.2


Mendelssohn
Octet in E-flat major, Op.20
Piano Trio No.1 in D minor


Ravel
String Quartet


Rossini
Cello and Bass Duo


Schoenberg
Verklärte Nacht


Schubert
Quintet in C major, Op.163


Shostakovich
Piano Trio No.2
String Quartets Nos 7, 8 & 10
Two Pieces for String Octets, Op.11


Eugene Skeef
String Quartet No.1


Tchaikovsky
Souvenir de Florence, Op.70

Sample recital programme

Abel Selaocoe Vukani Bo! (African song about the awakening of a village or greeting song)
Debussy Sonata in D minor for Cello and Piano
Ravel Improvisation on Habanera
Schedrin Improvisation on Albeniz
Abel Selaocoe Di Kae! for Cello and Piano (South African piece about ancestral gratitude)


INTERVAL


Britten Sonata for Cello and Piano in C major
Sir James MacMillan Kiss on Wood
Giovanni Sollima (arr. Abel Selaocoe) Lamentatio

Links

Abel Selaocoe

Abel Selaocoe

Abel Selaocoe

Abel Selaocoe

Chloë Wennersten
Artist & Project Manager, imagine
+44 20 7608 9923
cwennersten@intermusica.co.uk

Elizabeth Ng
Artist & Project Co-ordinator, imagine
+44 20 7608 9938
eng@intermusica.co.uk

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