Sheku Kanneh-Mason

Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason became a household name in 2018 after performing at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Windsor Castle, which was watched by nearly two billion people globally. Since then, he has appeared with numerous orchestras and in recital worldwide. Forthcoming highlights include performances with the Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, New York Philharmonic, and on tour with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Kanneh-Mason initially garnered renown as the winner of the 2016 BBC Young Musician competition, the first Black musician to take the title. He was later appointed a member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 New Year’s Honours List, and received the 2020 Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artists’ Award. He has released two chart-topping albums on the Decca Classics label, Inspiration in 2018 and Elgar in 2020. During the COVID-19 lockdown, Mr. Kanneh-Mason and his siblings performed in twice-weekly livestreams from their family home in Nottingham to audiences of hundreds of thousands around the globe. Mr. Kanneh-Mason continues his studies at the Royal Academy of Music as a Bicentenary Fellow, and plays a Matteo Goffriller cello from 1700 which is on indefinite loan to him.