SUMMARY
-
UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Britain’s breakout stars Sheku Kanneh-Mason, cello, Isata Kanneh-Mason, piano
-
Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason is the winner of the 2016 BBC Young Musician competition who launched to stardom following his performance at the 2018 wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex
-
Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason is the recipient of a 2021 Leonard Bernstein Award and a 2020 Opus Klassik award for best young artist
-
In this special recital, the sibling duo will astound with their tight-knit communication, exuberance and humility
-
This presentation is part of the 2021-2022 CREATING HOPE programming initiative
-
Tuesday, April 19th / 7:00 p.m. Pacific / Campbell Hall
-
$35 – $50: General Public / $10 for all students (with valid ID)
-
Health & Safety: Proof of full vaccination (including booster, when eligible) is required for all attendees. Visit https://artsandlectures.ucsb.edu/SeasonFAQs/ for updates and further details.
-
Tickets/Info: (805) 893-3535, www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu
-
This event includes an at-home viewing option (live stream only; no replay).
SANTA BARBARA — UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Britain’s breakout stars Sheku Kanneh-Mason, cello, Isata Kanneh-Mason, piano on Tuesday, April 19th at 7:00 p.m. Pacific at Campbell Hall. This presentation is part of the 2021-2022 CREATING HOPE programming initiative.
Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason first gained renown as winner of the 2016 BBC Young Musician competition (the first Black musician to take the title), soon launching to stardom after his performance at the 2018 wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. In 2020, he was appointed a member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and became the first cellist in history to hit the U.K. Top 10 chart. Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason is the recipient of a 2021 Leonard Bernstein Award and a 2020 Opus Klassik award for best young artist. In this special recital, the sibling duo will astound with their tight-knit communication, exuberance and humility.
Program
Khachaturian: Cello Sonata
Shostakovich: Sonata in D minor, op. 40
Bridge: Sonata in D minor, H. 125
Britten: Cello Sonata, op. 65
ABOUT SHEKU KANNEH-MASON
“They played with such ease and accuracy… Call it sibling harmony.”The Guardian (U.K.)
Winner of the 2016 BBC Young Musician competition, Sheku Kanneh-Mason is in great demand from orchestras and concert halls worldwide. He became a household name in May 2018 after performing at the Wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Windsor Castle. In January 2020, Sheku released his second album, Elgar, featuring the Cello Concerto, which he recorded at Abbey Road Studios with Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra. On its release, it reached No. 8 in the UK Official Album Chart, making Sheku the youngest classical instrumentalist and the first cellist in history to reach the UK Top 10.
Sheku has made debuts with orchestras such as the Seattle Symphony, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra at the Concertgebouw, the Atlanta Symphony, Japan Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Symphony and Baltimore Symphony orchestras. Forthcoming highlights include performances with the City of Birmingham Symphony, Toronto Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony and Stockholm Philharmonic orchestras.
Recent recital performances include Wigmore Hall, Zurich Tonhalle, Lucerne Festival, Festival de Saint-Denis, Théâtre des Champs Elysées Paris, Teatro della Pergola Florence and a critically acclaimed tour of North America that took in Los Angeles, Berkeley, St Paul, Vancouver, Ann Arbor, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Sheku’s recital debut at Carnegie Hall New York. Upcoming recital debuts include London’s Barbican Hall, L’Auditori Barcelona, Madrid’s Auditorio Nacional and the chamber hall of the Berlin Philharmonie.
Sheku is passionate about making music accessible to all and is an ambassador for London Music Masters and Future Talent. During the Covid-19 lockdown in spring 2020, Sheku and his siblings performed in livestreams from their family home in Nottingham to audiences of hundreds of thousands.
Sheku is currently a full-time ABRSM Scholarship student at the Royal Academy of Music, studying with Hannah Roberts. He began learning the cello at the age of six with Sarah Huson-Whyte and then studied with Ben Davies at the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music where he held the ABRSM Junior Scholarship. He has received masterclass tuition from Guy Johnston, Robert Max, Alexander Baillie, Steven Doane, Rafael Wallfisch, Jo Cole, Melissa Phelps and Julian Lloyd Webber and, in July 2017, participated in the Verbier Festival Academy in masterclasses with Frans Helmerson and Miklos Perenyi. A keen chamber musician, Sheku performs with his sister, Isata and brother, Braimah, as a member of the Kanneh-Mason Trio.
Sheku was appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 New Year’s Honours List. He plays an Antonius and Hieronymus Amati cello c.1610, kindly on loan from a private collection.
ABOUT ISATA KANNEH-MASON
Isata Kanneh-Mason’s debut album, Romance, drew popular and critical acclaim, entering the UK classical charts at No. 1 when it was released in July 2019 and leading Gramophone magazine to extol the recording as “one of the most charming and engaging debuts” and Classic FM to praise Isata as “a player of considerable talent.” Isata recorded the all-Clara Schumann disc for Decca Classics as an homage to the composer and pianist in the year of what would have been her 200th birthday, selecting works from across her compositional output including solo piano pieces, a sonata, chamber music with violinist Elena Urioste, transcriptions of two of her husband Robert’s songs and the piano concerto, which she recorded with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Holly Mathieson.
Since her studies with Joanna MacGregor and Carole Presland at London’s Royal Academy of Music, Isata Kanneh-Mason has embarked on a successful and increasingly busy concert career as a solo artist, with concerto appearances, solo recitals and chamber concerts throughout the UK and abroad. She also continues to perform with her siblings, including regular duo recitals with her brother, the cellist, Sheku Kanneh-Mason. Recent highlights include appearances at the Edinburgh Festival, Wigmore Hall, London, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris, Teatro della Pergola, Florence and an extensive ten-city North American tour, including their debut recital at New York’s Carnegie Hall and a return to the Vancouver Recital Society.
Isata has also performed in the Portland Piano Series in Oregon, the Barbican Centre’s Sound Unbound festival, The Color of Music Festival in South Carolina, at the Edinburgh, Cheltenham and Bath festivals, the Snape Proms, the Musikfestspiele Saar and in venues from Antigua and the Cayman Islands, to Perth. During the UK’s Covid-19 lockdown in spring 2020, she and her siblings performed in twice-weekly livestreams from their family home in Nottingham to audiences of thousands around the globe. Isata’s rendition of the first movement of Beethoven’s third piano concerto accompanied by a chamber ensemble comprised of her brothers and sisters garnered over one million views. Future live performances include at the Kissinger KlavierOlymp, BBC Radio 3’s Wigmore lunchtime concert series, the Salzburg Mozarteum, Klavier Festival Ruhr, the Kimmel Center Philadelphia and with the Sarasota, Gothenburg Symphony, Hallé, Johannesburg Philharmonic, KwaZulu Natal Philharmonic and Paris Mozart orchestras. From the 20/21 season, Isata will become Young Artist in Residence with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
Isata reached her category final in the 2014 BBC Young Musician competition, winning the Walter Todds Bursary for the most promising musician. She has since performed several times on television and radio, including on BBC Radio 3 In Tune, the South Bank Sky Arts Awards, The Andrew Marr Show, the Radio 3 RPS Awards, BBC2 Proms Extra, Radio 4 Front Row and Woman’s Hour, Al Jazeera TV, BBC World Service, Channel 4, The One Show, ITV Born To Shine, BBC2 Classroom Heroes and a feature for CBS Sunday Morning. Isata made her debut as a television presenter for the coverage of the 2019 BBC Proms.
She completed her undergraduate degree at the Academy as an Elton John scholar and performed with Sir Elton in 2013 in Los Angeles. Isata is also grateful for support from the Nottingham Soroptimist Trust, Mr and Mrs John Bryden, Frank White and Awards for Young Musicians.
See A&L’s full 2022 lineup here
This is a moment that calls for Optimism, Resilience, Courage and Vision.
Santa Barbara needs Hope, and Arts & Lectures is uniquely positioned to respond.
A&L’s 2021-2022 CREATING HOPE programming initiative has already inspired our community with presentations by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, chef Jose? Andre?s and author Anne Lamott. We will continue to inspire, through shared experiences with thought leaders, creative problem solvers and arts visionaries who will guide us forward. CREATING HOPE programs strengthen human connection, promote emotional well-being, joy and compassion, and envision positive change. Learn more about the CREATING HOPE: https://artsandlectures.ucsb.edu/CreatingHope.aspx
ABOUT UCSB ARTS & LECTURES
Founded in 1959, UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) is the largest and most influential arts and lectures organization between Los Angeles and San Francisco. A&L annually presents more than a hundred public events, from critically acclaimed concerts and dance performances by world-renowned artists to talks by groundbreaking authors and film series at UCSB and Santa Barbara-area venues. With a mission to “educate, entertain and inspire,” A&L also oversees an outreach program that brings visiting artists and speakers into local classrooms and other venues for master classes, open rehearsals, discussions and more, serving K-12 students, college students and the general public.
Sheku Kanneh-Mason, cello, Isata Kanneh-Mason, piano is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures in association with the UCSB Department of Music.
This presentation is part of the 2021-2022 CREATING HOPE programming initiative.
$35 – $50: General Public / $10 for UCSB Students (Current student ID required)
For tickets and more information, call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535 or visit www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu.
Corporate Event Sponsor:
Special Thanks:
UCSB Arts & Lectures gratefully acknowledges our Community Partners the Natalie Orfalea Foundation & Lou Buglioli for their generous support of the 2021-2022 season.
