Teenage cellist ‘bowled over’ at personal invite to perform at wedding
Personally invited by the royal couple, teenage cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason delivered a moving performance that got the attention of millions during yesterday’s royal wedding.
Kanneh-Mason, 19, performed for 600 guests and a huge global television audience as the newlyweds Harry and Meghan, now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, signed the register.
Kanneh-Mason played three pieces accompanied by an orchestra: “Apres un Reve” by French composer Gabriel Faure, “Sicilienne” by Maria Theresia von Paradis and Schubert’s “Ave Maria.”
The cellist won the BBC’s Young Musician of the Year contest in 2016, the first black musician to do so.
Kanneh-Mason had been scheduled to play this weekend as a guest soloist with the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra before he received the royal call.
“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,” Kanneh-Mason said in a statement from Kensington Palace at the time. “What a privilege.”
During the hours before the wedding, Kanneh-Mason posted a number of updates on Twitter, including a photo of his cello in its case in the back of the car he took to the palace.
He also posted a photo of himself with the Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry, who delivered a sermon during the wedding, and a few shots getting dressed for the event with British designer Paul Smith.
Kanneh-Mason studies at the Royal Academy of Music. Last summer, Prince Harry was so impressed watching him perform in London that it led to an invitation to play at their wedding.
His name was trending on Twitter following yesterday’s performance.