A booking agent from Japan. “I’d love to still be performing around the world, playing to audiences who want to listen and getting to know as much music as I can. All those engaging skills can be …” His words trail away. These arrivals precipitated a wave of immigration that saw nearly half a million Caribbeans arrive in Britain in the years up to 1971. When I do, it feels uncomfortable. Sheku told Newsbeat the whole day was "just really amazing". This concert event spotlights Sheku Kanneh-Mason, star cellist at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding. “The big conversation you get from Sheku is on his cello because he’s living in the music,” he says. When he’s not playing music – and with a rehearsal scheduled for immediately after our interview he’s already shooting glances at his cello – Kanneh-Mason reads biographies of classical stars such as Yehudi Menuhin. He tells me he’s currently single. Local music teachers and education trusts offered free or affordable lessons and workshops. One of Schubert’s most enduring melodies, his Ave Maria is an ideal wedding piece - one of those pieces that you’ll know as soon as that tune starts. Sheku Kanneh-Mason, lost in the moment at London’s Royal Albert Hall. The others all had a real thirst to learn and got such inspiration from each other that they all just progressed very fast.”, Crotchets and quavers have been flying around the Kanneh-Masons’ six-bedroom home in the Nottingham suburbs for years now, what with daily two-hour-or-more practice sessions in bedrooms and living rooms, in bathrooms and under the stairs. Absolutely stunning. Konya, 18, is a pianist and violinist; Jeneba, 16, is a pianist and cellist; Aminata, 13, is a pianist and violinist. “Isata was very bright and needed something else to do,” says Kadie Kanneh-Mason, who gave up teaching literature at the University of Birmingham after the birth of her fourth child to parent full-time. The first notes of Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto unfurl quickly, jauntily, an attack on the strings made all the more startling by the quiet background stirrings of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. On Saturdays there was the Royal Academy of Music, which Isata, Braimah and Sheku all attended on junior scholarships. Virtuoso cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason: from the age of nine, he would wake at 4.45am to commute to London’s Royal Academy of Music for lessons.Credit: Fred MacGregor/Telegraph Media Group Limited 2019. Tue. A famous British baritone. Kadie has always batted away accusations of hothousing: “This lot play like they breathe.”, Now look: pianist Isata is a former BBC Young Musician finalist whose 2019 album Romance topped the UK Classical charts, while Braimah, a violinist, is an occasional member of the Grammy-winning dance-pop group Clean Bandit. His mother, father, aunt and brother: I’m told that wherever he performs, there’s always at least one Kanneh-Mason in the audience. Royal surprise as cellist who played at Meghan Markle’s wedding receives MBE (Image: GETTY) The young musician, 20, has been appointed an MBE in the New Years Honours (Image: GETTY) The 19-year-old was asked personally by Markle to … THE wedding of the year is nearly upon us and everyone’s desperate to know the finer details. Harry, 33, and Ms Markle, 36, will tie the knot at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on 19 May, with a reception at the castle afterwards. Picture: PA Sheku at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding The 19-year-old cellist played to 600 guests at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding on Saturday. Enjoying my life.”. And he’s destined for our shores: long-time Australian impresario Andrew McKinnon has snapped him up for a nationwide tour that begins in Brisbane next August and involves concerts with his musical siblings in five capital cities. Does Biden's new team better reflect America? Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, 21, insists classical music is not racist and lack of diversity in the industry … And as Sheku Kanneh-Mason shows (what a year it’s been for him btw), it suits the cello beautifully. At No. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Saturday wedding was filled with music. While Kadie had made a point of never mentioning to her children the paucity of black people in classical music, their impact was immediate, their desire to bring classical music to a wider audience palpable. In August 2018, his most recent album, Six Evolutions, shot to No. Stuart Mason’s father, an amateur violinist and orchestral player, emigrated to London from Antigua with his wife in 1958 and found work as a bus driver (“They had to work hard and that ethos definitely transferred to my parents and me,” Sheku tells me). With less than a month to go before their big day, Kensington Palace announced the music Harry and Meghan have selected for their wedding on Tuesday. Related Topics Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan … Music education is Kanneh-Mason’s passion. On May 19, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will finally tie the knot. Mason grew up in the capital before meeting Kadie Kanneh at Southampton University on England’s south coast and relocating their lives to Nottingham. His manager (“Sheku is music,” she sighs). I entered my first Young Musician competition at the age of 12. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle revealed the musicians they have chosen to perform at their May 19 nuptials at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in England. That he is a black musician in a traditionally white arena makes him even more remarkable. "Then Ave Maria, which is probably the most popular piece of the three, was by suggestion of the couple.". “I related the way he spoke to playing music. A combination of factors helped the Kanneh-Masons circumvent the expense attached to playing high-level classical music, where a cello string can cost $150 and a cello bow upwards of $3800. “Hello again.” The firmness of his handshake is surprising, given his profession. Royalty has always loved classical music. It was the first wedding he’d been to. Read about our approach to external linking. Bob Marley, whose poster is on his bedroom wall? Sheku Kanneh-Mason: ‘Every child would benefit from music lessons’ > Sheku has been playing the cello since he was six, having briefly also played the violin. I tell him I’ve interviewed guitarists who’ll only fist-bump in case they hurt their fingers, that concert pianist Lang Lang reportedly has his hands insured for something like $100 million. Sheku Kanneh-Mason: Royal wedding cellist breaks records with new album. As Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and his now-wife Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex signed the register at their fairy tale wedding ceremony on … .css-14iz86j-BoldText{font-weight:bold;}It's not every day you can say you've .css-yidnqd-InlineLink:link{color:#3F3F42;}.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:visited{color:#696969;}.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:link,.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:visited{font-weight:bolder;border-bottom:1px solid #BABABA;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:link:hover,.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:visited:hover,.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:link:focus,.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:visited:focus{border-bottom-color:currentcolor;border-bottom-width:2px;color:#B80000;}@supports (text-underline-offset:0.25em){.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:link,.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:visited{border-bottom:none;-webkit-text-decoration:underline #BABABA;text-decoration:underline #BABABA;-webkit-text-decoration-thickness:1px;text-decoration-thickness:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-skip-ink:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;text-underline-offset:0.25em;}.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:link:hover,.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:visited:hover,.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:link:focus,.css-yidnqd-InlineLink:visited:focus{-webkit-text-decoration-color:currentcolor;text-decoration-color:currentcolor;-webkit-text-decoration-thickness:2px;text-decoration-thickness:2px;color:#B80000;}}performed at the royal wedding, but for Sheku Kanneh-Mason, that's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity he can tick off his list. Apr. It’s easy to see why Kanneh-Mason is being hailed as the new Yo-Yo Ma. If Meghan Markle's entrance music at the royal wedding gave you chills, you can thank Prince Harry for that. Championing change and diversity in the classical music world, London’s Chineke! “Is this the most talented family in Britain?” marvelled judge Simon Cowell in 2015, when the six eldest siblings appeared on popular TV show Britain’s Got Talent. 'Banshee, shrew': An angry song wants women to be seen, .css-q4by3k-IconContainer{display:none;height:1em;width:1em;vertical-align:-0.125em;margin-right:0.25em;}playHundred-year-old whisky bottles found in house walls. He has played the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms, and Wigmore Hall in London and Carnegie Hall in New York for recital performances. The last thing you want for a young artist is to burn out quickly by doing too much improperly. Royal wedding: Teenage cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and gospel choir to perform, Hundred-year-old whisky bottles found in house walls. Having swapped from violin to cello aged six, Sheku was nine when he achieved his cello Grade 8 (the UK music exam system has a grade 1 to 8 scale) with the highest marks in the country. He made his US orchestral debut in 2018 with the Seattle Symphony, and this year has been a guest soloist with the Orchestre Philharmonic de Radio France, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra at the Concertgebouw and the Japan Philharmonic at the Vienna Musikverein. “I think I related to the humanity in the music, this feeling you can be broken and lonely as a person, not just proud and grand. Who would he like to meet, if he could meet anyone, alive or dead? Emotional. What a privilege to be able to play the cello at such a wonderful event. Bach – that deity of classical music – is Kanneh-Mason’s least favourite to perform on stage. He watches the TV series Black Mirror, snacks on fried plantains and has a laugh with Braimah. 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Enjoying my life. They wouldn’t have to be a musician.” He bristles. Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason performed at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle on May 19. Add viral social media posts of his rendition of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah and his own classical arrangement of Bob Marley’s No Woman No Cry, a slew of accolades including Male Artist of the Year and the Critics Choice Award at last year’s Classic BRIT Awards, his elevation in the British media as a poster boy for classical music, his role as a lobbyist for music education, and it’s no wonder Kanneh-Mason – dubbed “cello bae” on Twitter – has the Royal Festival Hall crowd enthralled. The timing and delivery and free use of repetition, the way a sentence can be viewed a different way if used twice. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to top charts with Royal Wedding album; His second album - Elgar – is a new work based around Edward Elgar’s Cello … That even with screened auditions for entry into conservatoires such as this one, even with the likes of Chineke! #RoyalWedding, A post shared by Sheku (@shekukannehmason) on May 20, 2018 at 3:05am PDT. Approximately 1,200 members of the public were invited to the Windsor Castle grounds for the wedding. His hair is a neatly trimmed Afro. To read more from Good Weekend magazine, visit our page at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Brisbane Times. He shot to fame playing at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. He rests his cello’s sleek white carbon fibre case under a painting of Queen Elizabeth II, one of several portraits hanging of the British royal family. Print instantly, or … "They had stand-ins for all of the people speaking and things like that, so it was really weird seeing two random people taking the vows for Harry and Meghan," he said. Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason opens up on performing at Harry and Meghan’s wedding James Besanvalle Monday 9 Dec 2019 7:35 pm Share this … “I’m political in the sense of caring about people and the world. “Of course not.”. He shot to global attention when he played at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Sheku performed at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding Credit: Getty Images 8.30pm Dinner often involves fried plantain; I love it and it goes with anything. A city with a strong multicultural legacy, Nottingham was one of the original hubs, along with London, for the West Indian workers who arrived on the SS Empire Windrush in 1948, encouraged by British government campaigns aimed at Caribbean countries at a time of severe post-war labour shortages. Inspiring young people who look like me, who come from backgrounds like me, to play classical music.” He flashes a smile. Sheku told Newsbeat the whole day was "just really amazing". Where jazz music has increasingly returned to its black roots, to the history of race in America and Britain – black London outfit SEED Ensemble, for example, recently subverted Debussy’s Golliwog’s Cakewalk in its Mercury Prize-nominated album Driftglass – classical music is still arguably anachronistic and snowed in. He just looked at it, then got up, got it sorted, sat back down and started over.”, Which was all the more impressive given that of all the music in his repertoire, the work of J.S. “Sheku is definitely more uncomfortable when it comes to public speaking or speaking to strangers,” says his sister Isata. The two female fans have decided to let him be (“People in classical music tend to be polite and older,” Kanneh-Mason later says), when Mason checks the time and grimaces, telling his wife they’d better hurry if they are going to catch their train. And cellist Sheku, 21, is no stranger to the spotlight after playing for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ’s 2018 wedding after being crowned BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2016. Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason's performance during the royal wedding stood out as a highlight for music fans. Clockwise from top left: Kadie, father Stuart, Braimah, Aminata, Konya, Mariatu, Sheku, Isata and Jeneba.Credit: Fred MacGregor/Telegraph Media Group Limited 2019. “I might play differently when I’m older,” he says before disappearing into his dressing room, flanked by his brother Braimah, 21, and some friends, “but it doesn’t mean I can’t have the same level of communication now.”. He communicated with his cello.”, The Kanneh-Mason clan. © 2020 BBC. Vice-President Pence gets Covid jab live on TV. Of course I’ve got to be careful not to break a hand, but as long as I’m not doing reckless things, I’d rather do the stuff I like doing. The Duke of Sussex picked the angelic operatic composition, "Eternal Source of … Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason. “You can injure yourself chopping vegetables,” he smiles. “In the classical world, he is prominent because of his ethnicity but in our inner-city schools, that’s normal. .css-1xgx53b-Link{font-family:ReithSans,Helvetica,Arial,freesans,sans-serif;font-weight:700;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;color:#FFFFFF;}.css-1xgx53b-Link:hover,.css-1xgx53b-Link:focus{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}Read about our approach to external linking. The injustices of last year’s Windrush scandal, when thousands of Caribbean migrants were told they were in Britain illegally despite having lived, worked and in some cases, been born in the country, continues to enrage. 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