Sheku Kanneh-Mason is living proof that you don’t have to be a misery-guts to be a serious musician.
The soft-spoken cellist, who rocketed to fame as a teenager when he won BBC’s Young Musician of the Year in 2016 before going on to perform at the Royal Wedding in 2018, is unsurprisingly all work – but he makes it sound like all play.
“I start my preparation quite early,” he reveals, explaining that he’s currently practising for concerts he’ll be performing in the summer.
“I can learn things quickly, but I like to take my time, to really get to know the piece properly.
“But I feel lucky that whatever I’m playing is usually a piece of music that I love, and because I’ve spent so much time really investigating this piece and exploring it, going into detail, there’s so much emotional content there when I come to perform.”
Indeed, the 23-year-old is known for his energetic, emotionally raw cello performances.
And he appears to feel deeply whatever he plays, whether it’s a classical concerto, a Welsh folk song or even – a fun surprise – a Bob Marley cover, such as the one he performed on his NPR Tiny Desk concert late last year.
“I grew up with Bob Marley’s music, so I listened to him a lot as a child and still do,” Sheku says with a smile. “He has an incredibly recognisable, unique and special voice which I really love.
“And there’s something about reggae music that makes me feel at home, so I love that aspect of it.”
Perth performance will be new challenge
Despite his highlight reel of high-profile performances many musicians could only dream of, Kanneh-Mason is the opposite of a puffed-up diva.
The modest Nottingham native is all about the music, and insists his favourite thing to work on is always the piece in front of him, whether it’s a concerto for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex or a solo for school kids.
“To be honest, I enjoy most the thing I’m doing at that moment, that’s how it tends to be,” he explains.
“When I’m in a project, I’m very focused on that and I love that, and then I’ll move on to the next thing.”
And when he makes his way to Perth Concert Hall next month for the first time since 2019, it’ll be as part of a new challenge – his very first series of solo cello recitals.
After years of being accompanied by piano or playing with world-leading orchestras, his Perth Classical Stars series performance – featuring works by Bach, Britten and Brouwer, among others – will see the spotlight shining on the cellist alone.
And asked if such a position feels vulnerable or powerful, Sheku replies simply: “Both!”
“There’s something very powerful about having all of the command of the music,” he admits.
“But I’m used to having other musicians to respond to on stage, which inspires me and encourages me, so coming up with all the inspiration on my own will be a different challenge.”
Netflix series led to streaming boom for Sheku
It’s clear from his studious approach that music isn’t just Kanneh-Mason’s profession – it’s his passion.
Growing up in a musical family, with whom he performed on Britain’s Got Talent in 2015, classical music, it seems, is in his DNA.
And although he admits being a professional cellist is a “fairly solitary” job, he finds time for fun in between travel, practice sessions and performances.
As well as playing or watching football (“Arsenal are my team, so it’s good things at the moment!”) he reckons living with likeminded people helps him to unwind.
“At the moment, because I live with musicians, we might all practise for an hour and then have a break, have a cup of tea and some conversation, then go back to our practising,” he says jovially.
“So it feels like a collective thing, even though the actual practising is solitary. I get into it!”
However, though he may be young in years, it’s obvious from anyone who has seen him perform that Kanneh-Mason has an old soul.
Popularity, for instance, doesn’t concern him – neither his own, nor what’s popular among his peers.
“I guess because I spend so much time in the world of classical music, I might have less of a perspective of how it is [perceived] in the wider world,” he says.
“In this recent series called Wednesday,” he goes on, referring to the smash-hit 2022 Netflix phenomenon starring Jenna Ortega, “she apparently plays quite a lot of cello concertos.
“Someone from my record label told me streams of my Elgar concerto had gone up, because that piece was used in the series.
“So that’s quite nice.”
Tickets for Sheku Kanneh-Mason at Perth Concert Hall on March 16 can be purchased from the venue’s website.
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