Classical Musicians Extraordinaire ‘The Kanneh-Mason’ Family Share Their Exceptional Talents As They Create & Perform Music For The Public During Lockdown. This Documentary Was Originally Aired Earlier This Year In July 2020 In The Summer Throws of Lockdown. It’s Great To See It Repeated In The Winter, But Alas It Is Now In The Continuing Winter Throws Lockdown.
The 7 Kanneh-Mason Kids ~ Braimah, Aminata, Mariatu, Jeneba, Konya, Isata, And Sheku ~ Are Seriously Talented! So Much So That That Is Actually A Serious Understatement.
The Kanneh-Mason Parents ~ Stuart & Kandi ~ Have Seriously Effective, Productive And Loving Parentin’ Skills. So Much So That With 7 Kids, Two Parents, And Various Pianos And Other Musical Instruments In The House, Lots of Talent, Various Egos, And Various Undulating Hormones, Including Teeanges Ones, Somehow Someway Everyone Gets Along.
This Is A Supremely Impressive, Musically Dedicated & Disciplined, Highly Intelligent, Fundamentally Happy, And Closely Bonded Family.
Infact With 7 Kids And Both Parents In Situ Working In Tandem As Loving Yet Firm Heads of The Family One Can’t Help But Think of The Famous But Fictional Walton Family (Based On A True Story) With Their 7 Children (John Boy, Jason, Ben, Jim-Bob, Mary Ellen, Erin, And Elizabeth) Who Dominated American TV For Generations And Became America’s Longest TV Series, Simply Called ‘The Waltons’.
It Was This Show That Coined The Famous Closing Scene And Weekly Set-Piece Ending “Goodnight Jim-Bob”. It Also Includes One of Our Favourite Television Episodes Ever, Where John-Boy (The Family Wordsmith, Journalist, Novelist And Newspaper Editor) Teaches Their African-American Friend And Neighbour To Read And Write. And When She Goes Away To Visit Family He Waves Her Off At The Train Station Saying “Don’t Forget To Write”. The Waltons Had High Standards, Pulled On A Lot of Heartstrings And Involved Alot of Crying As The Stories Were Often So Moving (TheWaltons.Com)
But This Is A Black British Family. Living In England. In A Different Time. With Different Dynamics. And If Anyone Is Going To Be Doing The Teaching It’s The Kanneh-Masons. They Too Have High Standards. They Stroke The Strings of Cellos And Violins, And Move Audiences To Tears With Their Breathtaking Virtuoso Classical Musical Performances.
IsIsata Reached The Finals of BBC Young Classical Musician of The Year, Playin’ Piano In 2014, Which Caught The Attention of Sir Elton John Who Publicly Sang Her Praises.
Jeneba Followed In Her Footsteps In 2018 And Also Reached The Finals of The Same Show, Havin’ Reached The Finals Locally In Nottingham Five Years Earlier In 2013.
And In Summer 2016 Sheku Actually Won The Show, Makin’ History By Becomin’ The First Ever Black Classical Musician To Do So. His Winnin’ Performance Included A Cello Concerto By Shostakovich And In January 2018 He Delivered His Premier Album “Inspiration” Which Show Cased More of The Same And Then Some’. Two Years Later He Delivered His Second Album “Elgar” Recorded With The London Symphony Orchestra And Conducted By Sir Simon Rattle. It Was Released January 2020 – Just Before The Lockdown. It Reached The Top Ten In The UK Album Chart, Which Saw Him Make History Again By Becomin’ The First Cellist To Do So.
Prior To That In 2017 He Played Spectacularly At Windsor Castle Durin’ The Weddin’ of Meghan And Harry.
In 2016 Brother Braimah Played Violin With Modern Music Band Clean Bandit As They Performed Their Christmas Number One Hit Rockabye On Top of The Pops.
He, His Sister Isata, Brother Sheku And Friend Plinio Are All Studyin’ Music At The Royal Academy of Music In London And Sharin’ A Flat, Regularly Rehearsin’ And Practisin’ Together.
Some of The Classical Pieces Played Throughout The Show
The African American Spiritual – Deep River. Originally A Piano Piece By Black Classical Composer Samuel Coleridge Taylor. He Originates From Sierra Leone Where The Children’s Mum Was Born. Taylor Ended Up Residin’ In Croydon And Is A Favourite of The Chineke Orchestra. Here His Piece Is Played By Braimah On Violin, Sheku On Cello And Isata On Piano.
Chopin Etude In E Major – Played By Jeneba On Piano
Bob Marley’s No Woman No Cry – Played By Sheku On Cello
ABOUT
As Pluto Shervington’s Ram Goat Liver Reggae Track Plays In The Background, Dad Stuart Explains The Children Were Introduced To All Kinds of Music At Home, Includin’ Reggae And Classical, Country And Western, Rap And Rock.
Diane holds a Master’s in Design from Columbia University and is passionate about building effective teams, and leveraging design to create high growth products.
She currently manages designers at Dot. She has previously managed design teams at Arrow, cofounded a company that was acquired by Parenthesis, and spent a few years as a freelance designer.
Originally from Canada, she studied in Paris and London, worked in Singapore, and is now based in San Francisco. She loves books, yoga, and wine.
GET IN TOUCH
Diane is always available for side collaborations and talks worldwide. If you want to chat about design, books, wine, or anything else, don’t hesitate in reaching out.
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