Siblings Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason are currently on tour as a cello-piano duo. Photo by James Hole.
In Friday’s (12/13) CBC News (Canada), Alexandra Mae Jones writes, “Two classical musicians, including famed British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, cancelled a sold-out show in Toronto after Air Canada refused to allow them to board their flight with a cello, even though they’d purchased a seat for the instrument. Kanneh-Mason and his pianist sister, Isata, were scheduled to perform at Koerner Hall on Wednesday but had to cancel at the last minute, the pair shared in an Instagram post. ‘First we had delays, then a cancellation, and the day concluded by being denied boarding with the cello—despite having a confirmed seat for it—on a new, final flight into Toronto,’ they wrote. Although they didn’t specify the airline responsible in their statement, the post included a hashtag for Air Canada and also tagged Air Canada’s account…. A spokesperson for Air Canada told CBC News in an email that the airline has a policy of accepting cellos in the cabin when a separate seat has been booked…. The siblings … urged airlines to come up with clearer policies for musical instruments…. The concert has been rescheduled for June 3, 2025.”
