Curiosity, as Abel Selaocoe reminded us in his welcome to Manchester Collective’s first Queen Elizabeth Hall date, is key to music, to its future, its vitality. The multitalented cellist, who grew up in a township of South Africa and completed his formal studies in Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music, is right. It’s the very sap. It applies as much to an ensemble like the Collective, who play experimental gigs, dress as they choose, shoes on or off, and rove freely between styles, as to a symphony orchestra performing Brahms or a choir singing Handel. Every live performance is both a first and last. How do musicians meet this responsibility? You know the question has not been addressed when a good performance falls flat. There was no danger of that here. Energy and intensity prevailed.
Already a fixture at pioneering venues such as Kings Place, Selaocoe has established a wide following. Now everyone wants a bit of his magic. His rise, achieved through virtuosity and hard work as well as charm and flair, has been swift and deserved. So too has the Collective’s. Founded in 2016, their journey from offbeat venues (I first heard them in an old cricket bat factory three years ago) to mainstage prominence is little short of remarkable. Their challenge will be to maintain their characteristic sense of risk and openness of spirit. Under the music directorship of violinist Rakhi Singh they stand every chance.
