SA cellist Abel Selaocoe to join William Chapman Nyaho for US concert

The concert will be conducted by Jung-Ho Pak and feature South African cellist Abel Selaocoe and Ghanaian-American pianist William Chapman Nyaho.

In addition to his piano work, Nyaho is a scholar of African and diaspora composers. Passport to Africa will be his take on a Western classical interpretation of African music. He is set to perform Camille Saint-Saëns’ 'Africa', a piece based on North African folk music and written while the French composer was in Egypt.

Co-headliner Selaocoe has long explored the capacity of the cello across multiple genres ‒ from collaborations with beatboxers and world musicians to concerto performances and solo recitals. While studying music in the UK, he became involved in Multi-Story Orchestra, an ensemble of young professional musicians with a shared commitment to widening access to classical music.

Selaocoe, a recipient of the prestigious Standard Bank Young Artists Award in South Africa in 2017, will perform Hyannis Bongani Ndodana-Breen’s ‘African Kaddish’.

Reverend Joan M Martin, a pastor at Christian Union Church in North Truro, Massachusetts, and Johann Buis of Wheaton College will deliver remarks in honour of the late Rev Martin Luther King Jr. Buis will be reading texts written by Nelson Mandela during his imprisonment, while Martin will read King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail.

Passport to Africa will also highlight local artists’ interpretations of Africa and African music.

Tickets to the event can be purchased here.