Warner Classics has welcomed a flurry of signings – most recently the South African cellist-singer-composer Abel Selaocoe, announced today. A rapidly rising star who is redefining the parameters of the cello, Selaocoe moves seamlessly from world music to classical concertos, combining virtuosic performance with improvisation, singing and body percussion. He formed Chesaba, a trio specialising in music from the African continent, in 2016; they make their BBC Proms debut on August 15 alongside the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in a programme he curated himself. The Manchester-based musician is now preparing for his debut recording, to embrace jazz, world and Baroque collaborations, which will, he says, help us ‘to understand different ways we seek refuge, not always a place of comfort but one of empowerment that allows potential to live a fulfilled life’.

Selaocoe’s signing follows on from two others, the Serbian-French violinist Nemanja Radulović (well known from his recordings for DG) and the young Israeli-French pianist Yoav Levanon. Radulović’s debut album for Warner Classics is set for release in 2022 and, conceived during the 2020 lockdown, will invite listeners out of isolation and on to a musical journey around the world, visiting 22 countries in all. The France-based violinist replaced Maxim Vengerov at short notice in 2006, performing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in Paris to wide acclaim. He has since won numerous awards, and recorded an album for Warner with his ensemble Double Sens – overall a remarkable achievement for a musician who, marked by the sufferings of war in his home country, is determined to cultivate and share the healing power of music with a passion inherited from the Balkans.

Yoav Levanon, meanwhile, is, at just 17, already enjoying a remarkable career. He first appeared on stage at the age of four and two years later had won his first Gold Medal at an International Piano Competition in the US. By the time he performed his first Chopin Concerto at the age of 11, the conductor Daniel Oren was already singing his praises: ‘This child’s depth is indescribable.’ For his first recording with Warner Classics, Levanon has chosen a programme built around Liszt, Schumann, Chopin and Mendelssohn – composers who contributed financially, through their works, to the famous statue of Beethoven in Bonn.

All three artists have spoken of their delight at being welcomed into the Warner Classics family – a sentiment echoed by the label itself. Warner Classics President Alain Lanceron, who described Radulović as ‘an old friend’, was particularly impressed by the artist’s willingness ‘to reach the widest possible audience for classical music’, while Bertrand Castellani, Vice President of Warner Classics A&R, spoke of his wish ‘to accompany Levanon to the top’ and also of the honour he felt to be able to ‘help share Selaocoe’s musicianship worldwide’.