Described by The New York Times as "a compelling musical storyteller", cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, who makes his Irish recital debut at the National Concert Hall this March, became a household name in 2018 after performing at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Windsor Castle, watched globally by nearly two billion people. A member of the celebrated Kanneh-Mason dynasty, he initially came to prominence as the winner of the 2016 BBC Young Musician Competition.
Since then, his career rise has been nothing short of meteoric, with débuts and engagements with major orchestras, in addition to critically acclaimed performances at prestigious concert halls and festivals around the world, including the BBC Proms and chart-topping albums on the Decca Classics label.
For his forthcoming NCH début, Sheku Kanneh-Mason will perform works by J.S. Bach, Britten and Cassadó, alongside works by Welsh composer/pianist Gwilym Simcock and English composer Edward Finnis, and an exciting new work for solo cello by Leo Brouwer, commissioned by cellist himself!
We asked Sheku for his choice cultural picks...
FILM
Last King of Scotland. The way that it’s filmed coupled with the music build the tension in an amazing way, and the acting is exceptional!
MUSIC
Chances Are by Bob Marley. It’s a very beautiful song with a mix of sadness and hope.
BOOK
Joys and Sorrows by Pablo Casals. I find it an incredibly inspiring book, as Casals is a musician who I really admire.
THEATRE
Macbeth. I did it at school and I always really enjoyed a lot of the imagery.
TV
Breaking Bad has always been my favourite series; I have watched it 3 times. I particularly love the arc of the characters.
GIG
Wigmore Hall on January 7th with Amaan Ali Bangash, Ayaan Ali Bangash, Jennifer Pike, Anubrata Chatterjee. This was a concert of really beautiful music that I’d never heard before and I thought the combination of instruments worked really well.
ART
William Kentridge at the Royal Academy of Arts. I found it immersive, thought-provoking and one of those exhibitions where you needed to spend a lot of time!
TECH
Citymapper – because it’s very useful in every city I visit around the world!
THE NEXT BIG THING...
Bukayo Saka – an incredibly talented footballer and I think he’s one of the main factors in Arsenal hopefully winning the league this year! He also seems incredibly hard-working and humble and those are promising ingredients for a long career…
Sheku Kanneh-Mason performs at the National Concert Hall as part of the NCH International Concert Series on Tuesday 14th March at 8 pm - find out more here.
