The Kanneh-Mason family are well known as Mapperley’s Musicial Maestros. Let’s remind ourselves of who they are and what they have been up to.
The Kanneh-Masons are seven brothers and sisters aged between 12 and 25. All of them play either violin, piano or cello.
They were raised in Mapperley and attended state school in Nottingham.
Their proud parents are Stuart Mason, a business executive and Dr Kadiatu Kanneh, a former university lecturer. Both parents played musical instruments to a high standard but never pursued professional careers.
Kadiatu was born in Sierra Leone but moved to Wales as a young girl. She has lectured in English at the University of Birmingham.
Stuart was born in London to parents from Antigua. He works for a luxury experiential travel company.
Kadiatu released her memoirs in 2020, entitled: House of Music – Raising the Kanneh-Masons
Award Winners
As musicians, the family have won many prizes and awards. They have appeared in numerous television shows. The eldest five performed at the Bafta awards in 2018 and all seven appeared in the Royal Variety Show in 2019.
All the children attend or have attended London’s Royal Academy of Music and its Primary and Junior Academies, except pianist Jeneba who has progressed to London’s Royal College of Music for her undergraduate studies.
Sheku played cello at the wedding Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May 2018.
His website shows that Sheku’s music has been streamed over 37 million times!
Sheku Kanneh-Mason was awarded an MBE in the 2020 New Year’s Honours for services to music.
Music To Inspire Children
As a family they released their first album Carnival on Decca Classics in 2020. The music is also known as Carnival of The Animals and was written by French composer Saint-Saëns. It represents different animals through descriptive musical motifs.
It is an ideal way to get children to appreciate classical music and learn the sound of different instruments.
Carnival is a special collaboration between Academy Award-winning actor Olivia Colman, children’s author Michael Morpurgo and all seven Kanneh-Mason siblings – Isata, Braimah, Sheku, Konya, Jeneba, Aminata and Mariatu.
Recorded at London’s Abbey Road Studios, Carnival also includes new poems written by War Horse author Michael Morpurgo. On working with the Kanneh-Masons, Morpurgo said
“These young people are remarkable, not because they are young, not because they are the seven siblings from one family, but simply because they make magnificent music together, and it is evident they love doing it. Hear them and you know it. See them and you know it.”
Sheku is due to tour the USA and Europe in 2022
Here’s a recent video of him playing alongside his sister Isata