A World of Possibilities – Duncan Ward & Abel Selaocoe by Bartók, Barber, Selaocoe, Carpenter, G., Dj. 16 Nov. 2023, De (2023/2023), Director musical Duncan Ward, Barbican Centre, London, United Kingdom

South African and European traditions meet in the transformative music of Abel Selaocoe. Cellist, singer, percussionist, master of storytelling: Abel Selaocoe enthrals audiences with performances that sound like nobody else. As a musician and composer, he draws on a mixture of genres and styles, and from the musical idioms of both South Africa and Europe. His debut performance with the London Symphony Orchestra introduces his much-anticipated cello concerto, Four Spirits. We also hear an exuberant folk-music suite by Béla Bartók, himself a gleeful disruptor of musical dogmas, and a jazz-infused opener from British composer Gary Carpenter. The good mood promises to be infectious in the LSO’s first collaboration with Abel Selaocoe, with added electricity provided by conductor Duncan Ward and pre-concert foyer performances by Guildhall Jazz. ‘One of the most captivating performers the classical music world can lay a claim on.’ – The Guardian on Abel Selaocoe