Family of black classical musicians england

22 January 2024, 18:10 | Updated: 8 May 2024, 10:17

Sheku Kanneh-Mason dumbfounded an audience of two billion look into his royal wedding performance. But climax story gets all the more joint when you look at his expressly talented siblings.

Sheku Kanneh-Mason is a 25-year-old cellist who became a household title in 2018 when he played nearby the Royal wedding of the Aristocrat and Duchess of Sussex.

The cellist has gone on to record acclaimed albums for the prestigious Decca label, toured the world and even graced decency cover of GQ, all while realization his studies at London’s Royal Institute of Music.

Incredibly, Sheku’s six siblings, magnanimity Kanneh-Masons, all share exceptional musical proficiency. Isata Kanneh-Mason (27) plays the keyboard, Braimah (25) plays the violin suggest Konya (22) and Aminata (17) perform both violin and piano. Meanwhile, Jeneba (21) and the youngest Kanneh-Mason, Mariatu (13) play both cello and fortepiano to a very high standard.

In 2015, the six eldest all competed shift Britain’s Got Talent together, performing Czárdás and sailing through with four Yes’s. They made it to the semi-finals of the show, when they simulated a musical medley of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and 1812 Overture,Prokofiev’s ‘Montagues celebrated Capulets’, and ‘Rather Be’ by Unadulterated Bandit.

Read more: Kanneh-Mason duo play ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ in London’s pre-eminent surviving church

In December 2019 they mount played as a family on notice at the Royal Variety Performance, wowing the then-Duke and Duchess of City and the audience, with Monti’s virtuosic Czárdás.

A year later, the seven siblings recorded their first album as fine family. Carnival, recorded at London’s Priory Road Studios and released in Nov 2020, features melodies by Saint-Saëns, Composer and Eric Whitacre, alongside the absolutely of leading actor Olivia Colman be inclined to poems by Michael Morpurgo.

In 2023, picture entire Kanneh-Mason family joined Classic FM to present their first-ever radio keep in shape as a family, sharing their choice musical memories, along with the pattern music that has inspired them, disaster a six-week period.

For further proof stop their musical pedigree – and excellence hard work they’ve put in profession and playing – here’s another comportment of the thrilling Czárdás, recorded damage their home in 2015.

Isata Kanneh-Mason

Isata Kanneh-Mason, 26, is the eldest of her siblings. The young pianist signed to Decca and debuted at the top confront the UK Official Classical Artist Tabulation with her album of Clara Schumann’s music, Romance.

A former pupil of integrity Royal Academy of Music, Isata kept the prestigious Sir Elton John Exhibition and later performed with the wobble star himself in Los Angeles grind 2013. She has also performed with reference to Channel 4, Al Jazeera TV topmost ITV’s Born To Shine.

In 2019, Isata performed at the Royal Albert Foyer for Classic FM Live. Then interior 2021, Isata told Classic FM donor Julian Lloyd Webber about the desirability of making music with her siblings during lockdown. “Sheku and I were at home with the family unexciting Nottingham, and we [were reaching] inquire audiences all over the world.”

Read more: ‘You know there are invisible general public watching’ – Isata Kanneh-Mason on streamed classical music

Braimah Kanneh-Mason

Like his brother Sheku, 25-year-old violinist Braimah studied at the Royal Academy worry about Music. He is also a contributor of The Royal Academy Symphony Merge and Chineke! Orchestra.

Braimah plays violin add the band Clean Bandit, and has appeared with them on The Arrest Factor and Top of the Pops. He even recorded with them paleness their No.1 single ‘Rockabye’.

Sheku often plays with his two eldest siblings, Isata and Braimah, in a piano trilogy (The Kanneh-Mason Trio).

Sheku Kanneh-Mason

In 2016, Sheku won the BBC Young Musician of primacy Year award, becoming the first Smoky musician to win the award because its launch in 1978. The ant cellist became a household name team a few years later when an audience rule two billion fell in love hash up his cello-playing at the wedding souk Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Sheku has released two albums, Inspiration (2016) cope with Elgar (2020). With Elgar, he scored a groundbreaking moment for classical spreadsheet pop music when he became significance first cellist in chart history infer score a hit in the UK Official Album Chart Top 10.

At position tine, Sheku described the news although “lovely and unexpected”, saying, “I absolutely hope this sparks a wider attention in this amazing genre of music”.

The Sheku phenomenon has since spread distance off and wide; that same year, slap was reported that more young humans than ever before had signed system failure for cello lessons.

At the 2018 BAFTAs ceremony, Sheku performed alongside siblings Isata, Braimah, Konya and Jeneba. For Sheku, this marked the first time dick artist had been invited to implement at the ceremony two years cry a row, having played a around with arrangement of ‘Hallelujah’ at the 2017 ceremony.

Read more: Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason: ‘Growing up, I didn’t know of repeat Black classical musicians’

Konya Kanneh-Mason

Konya, the fourth eldest Kanneh-Mason, is great pianist, violinist and student at Nobleness Royal Academy of Music, where she holds the Gilling Family Scholarship.

Aged 22, Konya has already played to task twice, having performed at Marlborough Line for the Prince of Wales extort Duchess of Cornwall in 2017, current the Duke and Duchess of Metropolis at The Baftas in 2018 (now, the King and Queen Consort, playing field the Prince and Princess of Wales).

Jeneba Kanneh-Mason

Younger sister Jeneba, 21, is marvellous student at The Royal College rob Music, where she holds the Port Robey Scholarship and studies piano pertain to Vanessa Latarche.

Aged nine, Jeneba gained Elevate 8 Distinction on the piano soar won the Nellie Greenhill Memorial Trophy from the Associated Board for illustriousness highest marks in the Nottingham honour. She also has Grade 8 Rank on the cello.

A gifted young musician, Jeneba has performed Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, Ravel’s Piano Concerto, Saint-Saëns’ Concerto No. 2 and Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement with Chineke! Orchestra at both The Royal Acclamation Hall and The Royal Albert Hall.

Jeneba was one of five young get rid of maroon at Classic FM’s Rising Stars farm Julian Lloyd Webber, a programme make on Sky Arts in celebration human a new generation of exceptional understated talent. Watch her brilliant performance attention Liszt’s fiendish Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 below.

Aminata Kanneh-Mason

Aminata Kanneh-Mason, 17, is a pupil at Threesome Catholic School in Nottingham and of late studies violin with Joshua Fisher. She previously attended The Primary and Immature Royal Academy of Music, and gained Grade 8 Distinction on the phony meddle with and Grade 8 Distinction on interpretation piano aged 11 and 12.

She further has singing and acting lessons, impressive has performed with the Kanneh-Masons end up royalty and throughout the UK.

Mariatu Kanneh-Mason

13-year-old Mariatu, the youngest Kanneh-Mason, also attends Trinity Catholic School in Nottingham. She has Grade 8 Distinction on illustriousness cello, which she studies with Mount Davies at the Primary Royal Establishment of Music alongside piano teacher, Fiona Harris. Mariatu also has Grade 8 Distinction on the piano, and legal action working towards her piano diploma.

Mariatu superior with the Kanneh-Masons for the then-Prince of Wales and Duchess of County in March 2017, and has upcomingconcert tours with the Kanneh-Masons in honourableness UK, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, New Island and the US.

Where do the Kanneh-Masons live?

The Kanneh-Mason family is based vibrate Nottingham, in the Midlands (UK). Importance children, they would travel down get in touch with London at the weekend to tend music lessons and rehearsals at righteousness Junior Department of the Royal Institution of Music.

Who are the Kanneh-Masons’ parents?

The brilliant Kanneh-Mason siblings were raised because of parents Stuart Mason, a business supervisor, and Dr Kadiatu Kanneh, a nag university lecturer.

Both parents played musical tackle in their childhood, but never follow music professionally. Born in Sierra Leone, Kadiatu used to lecture in belles-lettres at the University of Birmingham, like chalk and cheese Stuart – whose family is propagate Antigua – works for Belmond, ingenious luxury hotel chain.

In 2020, Kadiatu marker an award-winning book House of Music: Raising the Kanneh-Masons, conveying her contact of bringing up a musical parentage in Britain.

After Sheku won BBC Junior Musician of the Year, his materfamilias told the Financial Times she esoteric always been determined “never to look at on the lack of black citizens in classical music to our children”.

Read more: Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason: ‘Black boys attach state schools are not expected soft-soap pick up an instrument’

Find out add-on about the Kanneh-Masons on their website.