Shifting Borders – Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam

About this event

Shifting Borders is the opening concert of the 11th Cello Biennale Amsterdam. The festival identifies Shifting Borders as its 2026 theme and frames the program around musical and cultural boundaries, including the movement between established classical traditions and other musical practices. Amsterdam Sinfonietta performs with three cellists: Abel Selaocoe, Raphaela Gromes and Tim Posner. Hans Christian Aavik provides musical direction and plays violin. The concert combines Marie Jaell's cello concerto, arranged by J. Riem, with Ravel's La valse, arranged by H. Bouma, works by Selaocoe, a Vivaldi concerto movement and Giovanni Sollima's The Family Tree. The event description places Selaocoe's practice at the intersection of traditional African music, classical music and new Western music. The concert is presented without staging in Muziekgebouw's Grote Zaal.