Brussels Philharmonic & Abel Selaocoe

The American composer Jessie Montgomery combines exhilarating music with a profound social awareness. Especially for festival artist Abel Selaocoe, she wrote the cello concerto These Righteous Paths, in which she mourns her deceased mother. The composition looks both ahead and behind: at the ancestral influence of the African diaspora on the African-American experience, and at new hopes and memories. In addition to the Belgian premiere of this brand-new concerto, Brussels Philharmonic will also perform Montgomery’s vibrant Coincident Dances, and musical stories by Florence Price and Carlos Simon. The symphonic dances from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story round off this outstanding orchestral evening.

Flagey, Klarafestival, Brussels Philharmonic

More information: klarafestival.be

Also read the conversation with Abel Selaocoe on the Klarafestival website.