Sheku Kanneh-Mason.
In Friday’s (5/2) Guardian (U.K.), Charlotte Higgins writes, “It is hard to believe Sheku Kanneh-Mason is still only 26: he is touring with some of the best orchestras and conductors in the world, has an MBE, is a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music, and, for the estimated hundreds of millions who watched, is the young cellist who played at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding. He is also the most celebrated young Black musician in Britain, famously one of seven talented musical siblings … In his debut book, The Power of Music … he writes about playing in a way that is so grounded, joyous and straightforward that anyone who has had the good fortune to make music with others … will feel … In his telling, his upbringing was less of a hothouse environment than one in which music was as much part of life as eating or playing football…. And yet, [he and his siblings] were often the only Black children in the room, or concert hall, or masterclass…. He writes: ‘The dominant image of a classical musician when I grew up did not look like me. It was difficult to find a projection of who I might be if I became a professional cellist …’ Now, his presence helps to change that for others.”
