New York, NY -- The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY), one of New York’s leading cultural venues, presents Manchester Collective and Abel Selaocoe, cello: Sirocco pm at Kaufmann Concert Hall. 

The young classically trained South African cellist and vocalist taking the world by storm, Abel Selaocoe joins us with the daring UK-based contemporary string quartet Manchester Collective, bringing their acclaimed collaboration Sirocco to our stage. Celebrating the warmth and diversity of folk music traditions around the world, their program is an exuberant blend of African music, folk-inflected music by Haydn and Stravinsky, Danish folk songs, and more, expanding notions of what classical music can be. Manchester Collective’s mission is to “create intimate and intense human experiences built around live music.” This is one of them – a joyful and immersive one-of-a-kind event.

Known for their imaginative programming, daring collaborations and engaging performances, the work of Manchester Collective has expanded at breakneck speed since their formation in 2016 by Adam Szabo and Rakhi Singh. The Collective’s vision is to reshape the future of classical music by creating radical artistic work from their base in the north of England.

The shape-shifting ensemble performs a combination of cutting-edge contemporary music, classical masterpieces and staged work nationally and internationally, in spaces ranging from concert halls to warehouses, nightclubs to festivals. They collaborate with an exciting array of award-winning artists, pushing at the boundaries of how classical music is presented and experienced. Notable previous projects include Sirocco and The Oracle with South African cellist Abel Selaocoe, Rosewood with guitarist Sean Shibe, and a multimedia performance of Michael Gordon’s ‘Weather’ with an installation by sound recordist Chris Watson. 

New music is of vital importance to the Collective. Crossing different musical genres, in recent years they have commissioned major works by composers including Edmund Finnis, Emily Hall, Hannah Peel, Lyra Pramuk, Moor Mother, Laurence Osborn, and Alice Zawadzki. In 2021, Manchester Collective made their Royal Albert Hall debut as part of the BBC Proms Festival and are currently artists-in-residence at the Southbank Centre in London. In 2023, they won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s prestigious Ensemble award. Manchester Collective is a part of the Icelandic label Bedroom Community. Their third studio album NEON was released in June 2023.

South African cellist Abel Selaocoe has established himself as a leading voice of reimagining classical music. Redefining the parameters of the cello, he moves seamlessly across a plethora of genres and styles, from collaborations with world and jazz musicians, to concertos and solo performances. Selaocoe combines virtuosic performance with improvisation, singing and body percussion, and is devoted to composing works and curating programs that highlight the links between Western and non-Western musical traditions, broadening the horizons of classical music to reach a more diverse audience. In 2016, Selaocoe formed Chesaba — a trio specializing in music from the African continent, including many of his own compositions — and in 2022 formed the Bantu Ensemble who perform his music widely.

Selaocoe completed his International Artist Diploma at the Royal Northern College of Music in July 2018. In May 2021, he was announced as an inaugural Power Up Music Creator participant in PRS Foundation’s new initiative to address anti-Black racism and racial disparities in the music sector and in July 2021, he received a Paul Hamlyn Foundation award for his compositional work. In 2023, he was awarded the RPS Instrumentalist Award for his performances and collaborations which "blaze with creation, sending audiences home on a high."

Selaocoe thrives in exploratory settings, developing new projects with contemporaries, and enjoys close collaborations with musicians from a medley of genres, including Bernhard Schimpelsberger, Seckou Keita, Manchester Collective, Giovanni Sollima, Dudù Kouaté and Nduduzo Makhathini.

Selaocoe is an Artistic Partner of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Artist in Association with both the BBC Singers and BBC National Orchestra of Wales, performing with each several times across the season. Selaocoe also continues to perform his solo cello concerto Four Spirits widely in 2023/24 with performances with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra at EFG London Jazz Festival, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Philharmonie Zuidnederlands.

In 2023/24 he will make his debut at Edinburgh International Festival, Wiener Konzerthaus, Luxembourg Philharmonie, Konzerthaus Berlin, Caramoor and with Sphinx Virtuosi, alongside returns to Carnegie Hall, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, de Singel Antwerp, Britten Sinfonia and tours to the US with Manchester Collective and UK and Europe with his Bantu Ensemble.

When: Saturday, April 6, 2024 at 7:30 PM

Where: Kaufmann Concert Hall - 1395 Lexington Ave New York, NY 10128

Tickets start at $30 and are available at https://www.92ny.org/event/manchester-collective-and-abel-selaocoe.

About The 92nd Street Y, New York: The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY) is a world-class center for the arts and innovation, a convener of ideas, and an incubator for creativity. 92NY offers extensive classes, courses and events online including live concerts, talks and master classes; fitness classes for all ages; 250+ art classes, and parenting workshops for new moms and dads. The 92nd Street Y, New York is transforming the way people share ideas and translate them into action all over the world. All of 92NY's programming is built on a foundation of Jewish values, including the capacity of civil dialogue to change minds; the potential of education and the arts to change lives; and a commitment to welcoming and serving people of all ages, races, religions, and ethnicities. For more information, visit www.92NY.org.