Abel Selaocoe

“A remarkable storyteller who brings so much of himself out on stage that there are moments when I’m left feeling as though I need to sweep it all up” Jon Jacob

“Selaocoe’s way of reinventing the cello went straight to the heart” The Telegraph

“juxtaposes African songs with riffs on Bach, astonishingly performed and utterly mesmerising.” The Guardian

South African cellist Abel Selaocoe moves seamlessly across a plethora of genres and styles, from collaborations with world musicians and beatboxers, to concertos and solo performances. Selaocoe combines virtuosic performance with improvisation, singing and body percussion, and is devoted to composing works and curating programmes that highlight the links between Western and non-Western musical traditions, broadening the horizons of classical music to reach a more diverse audience.

Selaocoe is Artistic Partner of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Artist in Association with the BBC Singers and Artist in Residence with Kölner Philharmonie, performing with each several times throughout the season. In the 2024/25 season, he makes his debut at Verbier Festival with a solo recital and tours internationally with the Bantu Ensemble, including the quartet’s debut performances at Carnegie Hall, La Jolla Music Society and Trondheim Chamber Music Festival. He also tours the UK and Europe with Manchester Collective.

 Selaocoe continues to perform his solo cello concerto Four Spirits throughout 2024/25 with performances with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal and on a European tour with Aurora Orchestra, including to venues such as Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Konzerthaus Berlin, Isarphilharmonie Munich and Southbank Centre London. 2024/25 will also feature the world premieres of two works which Selaocoe will write for the Signum Quartet and The Hermes Experiment, who premiere the new works in October 2024 (Kölner Philharmonie) and November 2024 (Wigmore Hall) respectively.

 Selaocoe completed his International Artist Diploma at the Royal Northern College of Music in July 2018. In May 2021, he was announced as an inaugural Power Up Music Creator participant in PRS Foundation’s new initiative to address anti-Black racism and racial disparities in the music sector and in July 2021, he received a Paul Hamlyn Foundation award for his compositional work. 

 Selaocoe plays a copy of a circa 1735 Montagnana, made by Robin Aitchison in 2020 with the generous support of the Alan Powell Trust.

 Abel Selaocoe is an exclusive recording artist with Warner Classics.