Posted on Dec 7, 2022
Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason celebrates his eclectic inspirations
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Sheku Kanneh-Mason was six years old when he fell in love with the cello. "I remember seeing a whole orchestra performing and being just excited by the look of the cello, and asked to have lessons," the British cellist said. "I think my mom was relieved because ... I clearly wasn't somehow interested in the violin, but the cello immediately I was really into and had a great teacher from the start."
Playing this instrument that mimics the human voice through its range and tone is an "embrace," Kanneh-Mason explains, "sort of like dancing with the instrument ... It's just great to be so close to this amazing music and for it to come out of the instrument that's so close to you."
Kanneh-Mason spoke with Rachel Martin while visiting Washington, where he performed at NPR's headquarters for a Tiny Desk concert released in November. (He called the experience "nice and intimate.") Surrounded by LPs, books and memorabilia of all sorts at Bob Boilen's desk, Kanneh-Mason performed some of the solo preludes composer Edmund Finnis wrote for him, along with his own arrangements of Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry" and the Welsh folk song "Myfanwy."
Sheku Kanneh-Mason was six years old when he fell in love with the cello. "I remember seeing a whole orchestra performing and being just excited by the look of the cello, and asked to have lessons," the British cellist said. "I think my mom was relieved because ... I clearly wasn't somehow interested in the violin, but the cello immediately I was really into and had a great teacher from the start."
Playing this instrument that mimics the human voice through its range and tone is an "embrace," Kanneh-Mason explains, "sort of like dancing with the instrument ... It's just great to be so close to this amazing music and for it to come out of the instrument that's so close to you."
Kanneh-Mason spoke with Rachel Martin while visiting Washington, where he performed at NPR's headquarters for a Tiny Desk concert released in November. (He called the experience "nice and intimate.") Surrounded by LPs, books and memorabilia of all sorts at Bob Boilen's desk, Kanneh-Mason performed some of the solo preludes composer Edmund Finnis wrote for him, along with his own arrangements of Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry" and the Welsh folk song "Myfanwy."
Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason celebrates his eclectic inspirations
Posted from npr.org
Music
United Kingdom
Washington
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Growing up, Kanneh-Mason recalls the challenges of getting used to the routine of practice — in his case, half an hour or an hour before school and two or three hours after returning home.
"To be honest, it's what it takes ... there's no shortcut," he said, noting his parents were "very helpful" in encouraging him. "I've grown to understand it's a really luxurious process to spend time on your own and just explore this music and focus and do all the problem solving and things like that. It can be quite a beautiful experience, but it's hard work as well, of course."
He also had some advice for aspiring young musicians: "Always, as often as possible, remind yourself of why you love music and what's important about it, and [don't] lose sight of the importance of communicating music that can hopefully impact the audience that you are playing to. It can hopefully impact their life."
Kanneh-Mason performs on Dec. 8-10 at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center before touring in Germany, Austria and Portugal. His latest album is Song."
..."Growing up, Kanneh-Mason recalls the challenges of getting used to the routine of practice — in his case, half an hour or an hour before school and two or three hours after returning home.
"To be honest, it's what it takes ... there's no shortcut," he said, noting his parents were "very helpful" in encouraging him. "I've grown to understand it's a really luxurious process to spend time on your own and just explore this music and focus and do all the problem solving and things like that. It can be quite a beautiful experience, but it's hard work as well, of course."
He also had some advice for aspiring young musicians: "Always, as often as possible, remind yourself of why you love music and what's important about it, and [don't] lose sight of the importance of communicating music that can hopefully impact the audience that you are playing to. It can hopefully impact their life."
Kanneh-Mason performs on Dec. 8-10 at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center before touring in Germany, Austria and Portugal. His latest album is Song."
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This is a good story about doing what you are passionate about, then seeing it through!
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