Genre-defining strings with Abel Selaocoe and Aaron Wyatt

Almost every description of South African singer, cellist and composer Abel Selaocoe starts with a phrase like “genre-defying”, but Abel refers to himself as genre defining. He’s here to perform with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and he brings with him a lifetime of musical influences ranging from his childhood in Sebokeng, a township outside Johannesburg, to adolescence at Soweto’s African Cultural Organisation of South Africa, to study at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. His classical cello chops, his Xhosa throat singing, his improvisational spirit and his storytelling combine in an open, blossoming sound on his new album Hymns of Bantu.

Noongar composer, conductor, musician, academic and programmer Aaron Wyatt returns to The Music Show to catch up with Andy on his multifaceted career. With his first string quartet, subtitled ‘Under the Canopy’, set to be premiered across two concerts in Melbourne and Shepparton, he reflects on new ways of describing the landscape through old forms of music.