Biography
Cello
Sheku Kanneh-Mason
Sheku Kanneh-Mason became a household name in 2018 after performing at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and garnered renown as the winner of the 2016 BBC Young Musician competition, the first Black musician to take the title. His latest album for Decca Classics, Song, showcases his lyrical playing, and his 2020 album Elgar reached No. 8 on the UK Official Album Chart. Sheet music collections of his performance repertoire, along with his own arrangements and compositions, are published by Faber Music.
This season, Mr. Kanneh-Mason appears as artist-in-residence with the Philharmonia Orchestra. He also performs with the London Mozart Players, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Camerata Salzburg, Hallé Orchestra, and Royal Scottish National Orchestra. In North America, he solos with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, and Boston Symphony. Since 2017, he has performed every summer at the BBC Proms, including in 2020 when he gave a recital with his sister, Isata, to an empty auditorium due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He made his debut under San Francisco Symphony auspices last April, in a Great Performers Series recital.
A graduate of London’s Royal Academy of Music, Mr. Kanneh-Mason was appointed in May 2022 as the Academy’s first Menuhin Visiting Professor of Performance Mentoring. He is an ambassador for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Future Talent, and Music Masters. He was appointed a member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 New Year’s Honours List. He plays a Matteo Goffriller cello from 1700, which is on indefinite loan to him.
(9/2022)
This season, Mr. Kanneh-Mason appears as artist-in-residence with the Philharmonia Orchestra. He also performs with the London Mozart Players, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Camerata Salzburg, Hallé Orchestra, and Royal Scottish National Orchestra. In North America, he solos with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, and Boston Symphony. Since 2017, he has performed every summer at the BBC Proms, including in 2020 when he gave a recital with his sister, Isata, to an empty auditorium due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He made his debut under San Francisco Symphony auspices last April, in a Great Performers Series recital.
A graduate of London’s Royal Academy of Music, Mr. Kanneh-Mason was appointed in May 2022 as the Academy’s first Menuhin Visiting Professor of Performance Mentoring. He is an ambassador for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Future Talent, and Music Masters. He was appointed a member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 New Year’s Honours List. He plays a Matteo Goffriller cello from 1700, which is on indefinite loan to him.
(9/2022)
