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

Opening concert of the 11th Cello Biennale Amsterdam

The French composer Marie Jaëll (1846 – 1925) pushed the borders of the artistic world, which was completely dominated by men at the time. She was the first woman to be accepted into the Société Nationale de Compositeurs de Musique in 1879, studying with Camille Saint-Saëns. In 1882, she composed her Cello Concerto in F - the earliest-known cello concerto by a female composer. This lyrical concerto was forgotten for a long time, but is now fully back on the radar, thanks to the efforts of Raphaela Gromes.

When it comes to shifting borders, Abel Selaocoe is the person for the job. He moves effortlessly between a plethora of styles and makes connections between Western and non-Western music. He made his Dutch debut at the Cello Biënnale in 2018. Now his shows, in which the audience always plays an active role, bring him to all the major concert halls around the world. In this concert with Amsterdam Sinfonietta, he mixes traditional African music with classical and contemporary Western music, such as in Sollima’s The Family Tree, alongside Amsterdam Sinfonietta’s principal cellist, Tim Posner. In his own characteristic way, of course: straight through all borders!