Abel Selaocoe

In solo pieces such as Lamentatio, South African cellist, singer and composer Abel Selaocoe overlays a plaintive cello melody with folk song, while with his trio, Chesaba, he intersperses urgent improvisatory passages with gravelly vocals. His distinctive style fuses Western classical music with traditional South African timbres and is the focus of his 2022 album, Where Is Home / Hae Ke Kae. Selaocoe was born in a township outside Johannesburg in 1992, and he was initially taught music by his brother. As he only had access to instruments at the weekend, Selaocoe relied on a broomstick and paper diagrams to learn his craft. Despite these hurdles, he demonstrated prodigious ability and won a scholarship at the country's leading music school, St John's College. Now based in the UK, Selaocoe graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music in 2018. The cellist has collaborated with ensembles including Manchester Collective, Britten Sinfonia and BBC National Orchestra of Wales, with whom he made his BBC Proms debut in 2021.