{"id":75157,"date":"2022-05-02T13:15:41","date_gmt":"2022-05-02T17:15:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=75157"},"modified":"2022-05-03T11:50:57","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T15:50:57","slug":"interview-sheku-kanneh-mason-reuniting-family-toronto-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2022\/05\/02\/interview-sheku-kanneh-mason-reuniting-family-toronto-debut\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Sheku Kanneh-Mason On Reuniting With Family For Toronto Debut"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sheku
Sheku Kanneh-Mason (Photo: Jake Turney)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sheku Kanneh-Mason with Isata Kanneh-Mason<\/a> at Koerner Hall, Friday, May 6.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Audiences are in for a royal treat when rising British superstar cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason marks his Toronto debut at Koerner Hall on May 6th.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old artist, joined by his pianist sister Isata Kanneh-Mason, performs an intimate program of chamber works by Beethoven, Shostakovich, Bridge and Britten as part of their whirlwind US-Canadian tour, including a whistle-stop at Carnegie Hall two nights prior to their local appearance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always enjoy performing to any audience, and particularly introducing myself to new audiences,\u201d Kanneh-Mason says via Zoom from La Jolla, California, where he performed later that night during the West Coast leg of his tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel very connected to the program that we\u2019re playing, and it\u2019s music that both my sister and I really enjoy,\u201d he adds, noting that Bridge\u2019s lesser-known Sonata for Cello and Piano in D Minor<\/em>, H. 125 is among his personal favourites, described as \u201cincredibly beautiful and heartbreaking,\u201d while another, Britten\u2019s Cello Sonata in C Major<\/em>, op. 65, is \u201cfull of lots of character.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, his premiere concert in the city will be even more personal for the artist, hitting closer to home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lot of family in Toronto that I\u2019ve never met before,\u201d Kanneh-Mason reveals, affirming that Saturday\u2019s audience will be liberally peppered with his proud cousins and distant relatives now living in Canada. \u201cI have a big family [originally] from Antigua and know a lot of them are coming, so I\u2019ll be able to see them afterwards,\u201d he says amiably.<\/p>\n

Kanneh-Mason first rocketed to international fame after winning the 2016 BBC Young Musician Competition, notably as the first Black musician to win the award since its launch in 1978. He later dazzled a whopping two billion viewers around the globe with his televised performance at the Royal Wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in 2018. He\u2019s now in hot demand with orchestras and chamber groups from Berlin to Boston and beyond.<\/p>\n

Appointed a member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 New Year\u2019s Honours List, and featured in several British and American TV documentaries, Kanneh-Mason has two critically acclaimed recordings (Decca Classics), Inspiration<\/em> (2018) and Elgar<\/em> (2020) already firmly under his bow; the first cellist in history to reach the UK Top 10 for the latter. When not electrifying listeners on both sides of the proverbial pond, he continues his intensive studies with Hannah Roberts at London\u2019s Royal Academy of Music.<\/p>\n

Born April 4, 1999 in Nottingham, UK, and first a pianist and then violinist, Kanneh-Mason began studying cello at age six with Sarah Huson-Whyte and later Ben Davies at the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music. He was inspired to learn the soulful instrument after hearing his family\u2019s CD of the legendary 1965 recording of Jacqueline du\u00a0Pr\u00e9 performing Elgar\u2019s Cello Concerto<\/em>. He cites the near mythical British cellist and Russia\u2019s Mstislav\u00a0Rostropovich as his musical heroes \u2014 his favourite composers are Beethoven, Mozart and Rachmaninoff \u2014 and has now performed the Elgar that he says, \u201cdirectly connected with [his] emotions\u201d countless times himself.<\/p>\n

Sibling revelry is a natural part of his DNA. His large, close-knit family of six siblings \u2014 all classically trained on violin, piano or cello, or various combinations of the above \u2014born to parents, Stuart Mason, a business executive and Kadiatu Kanneh, a former university lecturer, proudly support each other\u2019s artistic proclivities. The five eldest children took the stage together at the 2018 BAFTA awards, while all seven played during the December 2019 Royal Variety Show.<\/p>\n

Having moved back home \u2014 like so many \u2014 during the global pandemic, and passionate about making classical music accessible to all, Sheku and his siblings livestreamed chamber performances from their parents\u2019 living room, as well as continued to hone repertoire with the Kanneh-Mason Trio, comprised of Sheku, Isata and their violinist brother Braimah Kanneh-Mason<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cFamily is certainly one, if not the most important thing in life. I\u2019m lucky to have this very strong family bond,\u201d Kanneh-Mason says when asked what \u201cfamily\u201d means to him. \u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful feeling to always have that support between us, and I\u2019m very grateful to have them,\u201d he says, adding his kin keep in touch via FaceTime, Zoom and Messenger apps, including having family group chats whenever possible.<\/p>\n

The touring life of any international star is notoriously gruelling, as artists traverse numbing time zones and maintain rigorous schedules, not to mention the inordinate demands of performing for hundreds of eager fans each night. The cellist shrugs off the pressures of a full on tour like a long seasoned pro; also carefully managing his publicly shared Type 1 diabetes with carefully packed supplies of insulin.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as I’ve prepared properly before the tour, then that makes a massive difference for sure,\u201d he says of taking everything in stride. \u201cRemaining focused on the concert each day and sort of reflecting after each performance also helps. But I\u2019ve always wanted to always be a performer, and so to be able to do that is wonderful; it\u2019s really great.\u201d<\/p>\n

The soft-spoken artist is exceedingly gracious when asked those inevitable questions about performing for the biggest house of all, the Royal Wedding at Windsor Castle while still merely a teenager.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a very different kind of performance than what I was used to, but I suppose I was just performing to the people in the room. I wasn\u2019t thinking about it being broadcast around the world to that scale,\u201d he states matter-of-factly, with those \u201cpeople in the room,\u201d including the entire royal family with its revered matriarch Queen Elizabeth looking on. \u201cYeah, yeah, I just enjoyed the feeling of performing for everyone,\u201d he says, understated.<\/p>\n

Besides the duo, the third star on the Koerner Hall stage will be Kanneh-Mason\u2019s gleaming, seven-figure 1700 Matteo Gofriller cello he\u2019s performed on since May 2021, and on indefinite loan, which he feels \u201cvery, very lucky to play,\u201d with its \u201cgorgeous, rich, dark colours.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo find a cello of such quality which so perfectly facilitates my self-expression is a dream come true,\u201d he told The Strad<\/em> at the time. \u201cIt is an exceptional instrument, the kind that comes around very rarely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Had destiny not led him to become a cello phenom, Kanneh-Mason\u2019s answer surprises when asked what else he might have chosen as his life\u2019s work \u2013 and play.<\/p>\n

\u201cI play a lot of football actually, and might have done that however I\u2019m not really qualified to do anything else but make music,\u201d he says with charming humility, referring to the high-kicking sport a.k.a. soccer in the UK. \u201cI also love to cook, so I might have become a chef.\u201d The very rare times he\u2019s not practising, performing \u2014 or packing \u2014 he also enjoys watching TV, reading, or discovering new music of all genres.<\/p>\n

The word \u201cfamily\u201d runs like a leitmotiv through conversation with the artist. Kennah-Mason is thrilled to be touring with his equally gifted sister, who provides calming, steady ballast for their mesmerizing concerts while making their performances truly a family affair.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely get along,\u201d he says of their highly supportive relationship. \u201cWe have a great deal of trust onstage, which is nice, and are both very excited to perform this music that we love so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

For concert details, including tickets, see HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Audiences are in for a royal treat when rising British superstar cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason marks his Toronto debut at Koerner Hall on May 6th.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":75160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[39907,76,19,4967,29,63],"tags":[40084,1876,34187],"yst_prominent_words":[21053,7292,6949,14478,7418,6715,7668,10549,34185,6606,6616,8980,8283,38614,38612,34186,34181],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/SHeku-Kanneh-Mason-INTERVIEW.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-jyd","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75157"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75157"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75186,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75157\/revisions\/75186"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75157"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=75157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}