Do you sometimes have to be different as an artist?
I don’t think much about that. I find it more important to show people how extraordinary and touching the commonplace can be. You can turn it into the most incredible things. As we speak, that plant behind you is growing – so many extraordinary things are happening in ordinary settings. The same goes for music: it elevates the moment. To be aware of this affects how we live and how we perceive ourselves. That special something exists in all of us; we just have to find ways to bring it out.
How do you manage to do that?
Quincy Jones once said: “Don’t try to be cool, be warm!” As young musicians, we try to show our personality. We want to be seen and heard. I tried to be cool once, too, but that doesn’t work. Now, as the father of a young daughter, I realise that being cool is overrated. To connect with people, we need to be completely warm. Warmth is everything! Your skills matter too, of course, but more important than being admired by people is allowing them to get close to you and share in your ideas.
Music connects
What does that mean for your music?
That you experience a concert collectively and not on your own. You have to find the connection between the sound that you hear and the things that are happening in your life. People are often very alone. I want people to enjoy my concerts together, with people they don’t know – it’s fantastic to be part of a collective. By experiencing music together, we become companions.
As a child, you practised playing cello on a broomstick; now, you are playing in prestigious concert halls …
Practising on a broomstick was convenient, and there was no money for a real instrument. But what was even more important was the imagination, the idea of what could be. It’s fantastic to play on big stages, but it’s basically the same as playing at home. Everything takes place in my fantasy, not on the outside.
The power of community
In 2023, you received the Opus Klassik award in the Classical Music Without Borders category. What boundaries do you want to overcome with music?
I think we should open up classical music. Connecting this music more closely with other cultures keeps it alive. I want my music to bring people together, irrespective of cultural boundaries. People need rhythm to dance and to think. Bringing more rhythm into the world – that’s the future for me.
You also campaign against racism in the music sector. What can be done here?
As a Black musician working in Europe, I have unfortunately also experienced racism. The community should protect the individual and denounce racist behaviour. It would be nice if people approached each other with much more curiosity. Understanding the cultures of others is exactly what my music is all about. No matter what our story, we can use music to encourage people to listen and thereby improve our lives and the lives of others. Everyone should have the right to enjoy music.
On 26 February, you will be performing your composition Four Spirits – a musical homage to your homeland – with the Aurora Orchestra at the Isarphilharmonie. Tell us about that.
Four Spirits celebrates African culture and is all about how a community comes into being. The first movement is dedicated to a traditional healer from South Africa who talks about how to mix traditions and new things while respecting that everything in our lives comes from a dim and distant past. The second movement deals with the curiosity of children, while the third is about movement, dance and the church. In the end, it’s all about community: we are one! Everyone on stage uses their voice in some way. Even the orchestra sings. We hope that the audience will sing along with us.
Abel Selaocoe in the Isarphilharmonie
Singing together has always played an important role in your life …
Yes, because in South African culture your voice is a big thing, everyone sings everywhere. And it’s not about singing well, it’s about expressing something. I think singing is a good way to connect with others and to build self-confidence already as a child. Singing is for everyone and has a symbolic meaning: you live your life, you sing your own voice, but you do it together with others.
Your own family lives in Manchester. How different are you when you return to your birthplace of Sebokeng in South Africa now?
That’s where I go to be myself. My music is based on the people, the dance and the poetry there. South Africa is from where I draw my energy and inspiration. It feels so good to be surrounded by people who move like I do. It feels like home, just wonderfully ordinary.
Text: Maria Zimmerer
