Cellist

Whether performing a Bach sarabande or throat singing in one of his own arrangements, SPCO Artistic Partner Abel Selaocoe is "breaking down the boundaries between people, eras and cultures" (The Minnesota Star Tribune), bringing people of all backgrounds together through music. For this program, he teams up with Sidiki Dembélé, a prodigious multi-instrumentalist who comes from a celebrated West African griot family of musicians, diplomats and oral historians. As master storytellers, Abel and Sidiki weave this cross-genre program named Kɔ̌ (pronounced Koh), or River in Bambara, exploring streams of culture, friendship and kindred spirits merging through the music of European Baroque and West African royal courts. Much like Bdote, the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, you'll feel cultures converging as Abel and Sidiki guide you along a shared journey you'll remember long after the final bow.

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Koh (Where Rivers Merge) with Abel Selaocoe and Sidiki Dembélé

Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

Born out of his family’s griot tradition of West African oral history and music, Dembélé’s work ‘Teriya’ (‘friendship’ in Bambara) celebrates where our roots meet and intertwine.

Cellist

Sidiki Dembélé

Events

Upcoming events

25 - 27 Sep, 2026

Koh (Where Rivers Merge) with Abel Selaocoe and Sidiki Dembélé · Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra

Oct 4, 2026

Manchester Collective & Sidiki Dembélé · Southbank Centre

Future and recently performed repertoire

Musician in Teriya by Dembélé

Southbank Centre

About

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