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Affectionately now known around the web as “Cello Bae,” Sheku Kanneh-Mason is a 19-year-old cellist from Nottingham who plays like a dream. He was set to play a show in Los Angeles before he got the call from the now Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle to perform at her wedding. The man did the opposite of disappointing at the wedding of the year, with guests visibly being shaken to their cores by his performance.
Flanked by the National Orchestra of Wales, the Philharmonia, and the English Chamber Orchestra, Kanneh-Mason let it all hang out, punctuating his intricate finger work with cello faces that have the set the web on fire.
But talent goes nowhere alone, and Kanneh-Mason has a family of musical prodigies. His younger sister Isata is a talent all her own on the piano. Sheku, though, won BBC’s Young Musician Competition in 2016. And he and his family of genius musicians have been profiled in a four-hour documentary on BBC called Young, Gifted and Classical: The Making of a Maestro.
Kanneh-Mason took to Twitter to tell us all how he just became the most famous afro of 2018. “[I was] bowled over when Ms. Markle called me to ask if I would play during the ceremony, and of course I immediately said yes! What a privilege to be able to play the cello at such a wonderful event. I can’t wait!” Well, he killed it, and he now has every mother in the world asking their kids when they’ll bring home a nice young man like Kanneh.
The young performer, is, of course, not done. He’s still got to reschedule his performance in Los Angeles, and he should be bracing himself for the torrent of media attention that will follow his introduction to the world. In the meantime, go get the young guy’s debut album Inspiration, which, you know, is aptly named.
