Opening concert: Shifting Borders Raphaela Gromes, Abel Selaocoe & Amsterdam Sinfonietta

Shifting musical boundaries

The French composer Marie Jaëll (1846 – 1925) shifted the boundaries of the art world, which had been dominated by men until then. She was the first woman to be admitted to the Société Nationale de Compositeurs de Musique in 1879 and studied under Camille Saint-Saëns. She wrote her Celloconcert in F in 1882, making this work the earliest known cello concerto by a female composer. The melodic concerto fell into oblivion for a long time, but thanks in part to the efforts of Raphaela Gromes, it is once again receiving plenty of attention.

About Abel Selaocoe

Abel Selaocoe is the cellist par excellence when it comes to shifting boundaries. He moves effortlessly between many genres and styles and creates connections between Western and non-Western music. He made his Dutch debut during the Cello Biënnale in 2018. He now performs in all the major concert halls of the world with his shows, in which the audience always plays an active role. In this concert with Amsterdam Sinfonietta, he also blends traditional African music with classical and new Western music, such as in Sollima's The Family Tree, together with Amsterdam Sinfonietta's solo cellist Tim Posner. Naturally in his own, characteristic way: right across all boundaries!