British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason grateful for his rapid rise to the top

Few people had heard of Sheku Kanneh-Mason before 2016, when the teenage British cellist burst onto the worldwide classical scene. He won the BBC Young Musician Award that year, gained representation by an international artist management firm and signed a recording contract with the top-level Decca Classics label.

“It was a very significant point in my life, and the start of my professional life and career,” he said. “I’m glad that happened at that time, and that I was in a position to take advantage of the opportunity.”

Now 26, the cellist has had a whirlwind experience in the nine years since, as he has gone on to perform in major venues worldwide. For the 2025/26 season, Kanneh-Mason will be artist-in-residence for the New York Philharmonic.

In 2024, he made his Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut, under guest conductor Paavo Järvi (that performance is linked below). He has a return engagement with the CSO, this time in his Ravinia debut, on Aug. 17, in the closing concert of the orchestra’s annual residency at the festival.

“That’s very exciting to be with such a well-known and amazing orchestra,” he said. “I’ve heard them a lot on recordings. For his CSO debut in 2024, he chose Elgar’s Cello Concert, a work that he has played more than any other and one closely associated with his native country. This time, he will be the soloist in Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 33, under David Robertson.

Kanneh-Mason was and is a big fan of renowned 20th-century British cellist Jacqueline du Pré, who was closely associated with the Elgar concerto, and he recalls watching videos of her performances as a child. “It was very inspiring that way,” he said. “She has a powerful ability to communicate so much in her cello playing.” He paid particular attention to her recording of that cello work. “It was something that immediately gripped me,” he said.

Other musicians who have influenced him include reggae superstar Bob Marley, a poster of whom hangs in his apartment. He also listens to jazz, hip-hop from the 1990s and early 2000s and Brazilian music. He lives with a Brazilian artist and fell in love with the South American city country during his first trip there in 2024. “There is so much music, and you can’t listen to all of it, so I just try to make the most of what I can,” he said. “Musicians from another genre can directly influence what you are doing. It’s just inspiring or it expands your imagination.”  

As far back as Johann Christoph and Johann Sebastian Bach and no doubt beyond, classical music has welcomed pairs of talented siblings. Current examples include Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Gil and Orli Shaham and Christian and Tanja Tetzlaff. Now, it’s time to add Kanneh-Mason and his sister, Isata, a pianist, to the list. The two have performed together often since they were children, and they recorded a Decca album in 2021 titled “Song.” “It’s really nice to tour with Isata,” he said. “We get on very well.”

While they are the two most prominent members of the Kanneh-Mason family, all six of the cellist’s siblings play violin, piano or cello, and they are featured on a 2020 album called “Carnival.” Among the other siblings, Braimah is an up-and-coming violinist who has soloed with the London Philharmonic and Bournemouth Symphony. 

“Both my parents — they are not musicians — but they love music, and they were very keen on us having instrument lessons,” Kanneh-Mason said. “So I started the cello when I was 6 years old and really enjoyed it from the start. Music is something you can share with lots of other people, and I loved the performing aspect, playing with other people.”

One of his early experiences was performing as founding member of the Chineke! Orchestra, composed of Black and ethnically diverse musicians. He played in a fundraising chamber music program with brother Braimah in the lead-up to the Chineke! Orchestra’s founding in 2015 and took part in its first concert. The cellist has since returned as a soloist.

“At that time, I was about 16 years old, so it was my first experience playing in a professional orchestra,” he said. “To be in an orchestra full of Black musicians with stories that I could talk to them about and be inspired was a really good, powerful experience. As a young musician, it was wonderful to have musicians to look up to and play with.” 

As gifted as his siblings are, no one else in the family has gained the kind of success he has garnered. “It’s definitely been incredibly exciting, and I’ve learned so much from all the experiences I’ve had these past nine years,” he said.

But in the midst of his travels to new orchestras, new halls and new cities, he is grateful that has been able to maintain some islands of stability, including his longtime teacher at the Royal Academy, Hannah Roberts; a tight-knit group of friends and his continuing residency in London.

Despite the demands of his high-flying career — with about 80 concerts a year — and the speed with which fame has found him, Kanneh-Mason comes across as laid-back and easygoing. “I think it’s because I really, really enjoy a lot of the projects I’m able to do,” he said. “I’ve always been quite careful picking projects and opportunities that I feel that I believe in, and I think that I’m going to enjoy and learn from. Also, I pick repertoire that I really care about and want to play.”

This is an updated version of an interview that was previously published on Experience CSO.