Abel Selaocoe
South African cellist Abel Selaocoe is redefining the parameters of the cello. He moves seamlessly across a plethora of genres and styles, combining virtuosic performance with improvisation, singing and body percussion and highlighting the links between Western and non-Western musical traditions, with a view to helping classical music reach a more diverse audience.
South African cellist Abel Selaocoe is one of the most captivating performers on the world stage today. With an irresistible energy, he has taken the world by storm since bursting onto the scene in 2021 with his BBC Proms debut. Whether with symphony orchestras, in iconic club venues or at major mainstream festivals, Abel combines virtuosic cello and vocal performance with improvisation and sweeps audiences along in captivating shows which blaze with creation, sending audiences home on a high.
Abel grew up in Sebokeng, where he first began learning cello with his brother at the African Cultural Organisation of South Africa (ACOSA) in Soweto. Abel’s affinity for the cello became quickly apparent and he continued his studies on scholarship at St John’s College before moving to the UK where he found a musical home at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. In Manchester, he met the musicians who are now his most regular collaborators, and this has led to the formation of his bands, Chesaba and the Bantu Ensemble.
Abel has quickly amassed fans all over the world, who connect with his music on a visceral and deeply personal level. His debut album on Warner Classics Hae Ke Kae was released to critical acclaim in 2022 and his second album Hymns of Bantu was released on 21 February 2025, celebrating his South African heritage and tracing his ancestral path that leads into his vast influences including Western classical repertoire.
Abel plays a copy of a circa 1735 Montagnana, made by Robin Aitchison in 2020 with the generous support of the Alan Powell Trust.