Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason says she may have been the first to learn an instrument, but today, the seven Kanneh-Mason siblings from Britain are all emerging instrumentalists in the classical music world.
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siblings → say → world
Her brother Sheku Kanneh-Mason, the cellist who performed at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, has described her as the family's trendsetter.
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who → perform → trendsetter
Recognised as one of classical music's most exciting young performers, Kanneh-Mason has already released several acclaimed albums.
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Mason → recognise → albums
She regularly performs on international stages, including with Elton John when she was 17, and is a passionate advocate for female composers and music education.
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she → perform → composers
Ahead of her Australian tour, Kanneh-Mason shares what really goes on in a family of seven musicians, how she conquered performance nerves, and why young people still value classical music.
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people → share → music
What was it like being the first to take up an instrument?
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it → take → instrument
Our childhood wasn't dominated by screens; it was dominated by creativity and books and music.
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it → dominate → creativity
I went to music school first when I was six and [my brothers] Braimah and Sheku suddenly started getting up early to practice as well.
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brothers → go → school
I think then I was the leader and the oldest and more bossy.
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I → think → ?
That lasted until I was about eight or nine, then people started doing their own thing.
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people → last → thing
So that's now long forgotten, 20 years in the past.
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that → forget → past
Do you have a favourite sibling?
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you → have → sibling
I think, and this is genuinely true, I've never been part of a family where people have favourites.
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people → think → favourites
It baffled me that you could prefer one sibling over another.
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you → baffle → another
I have different specific bonds with different siblings.
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I → have → siblings
I play with Sheku the most, but I probably talk to Konya and Jeneba most on the phone because they're the chattiest.
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they → play → phone
I relate to Mariattu, [my youngest sibling] quite a lot because we're very similar in many ways, but that's not the same as picking a favourite.
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that → relate → favourite
It's popping off every day, and I would say it's full of what we call session, which is basically insulting banter.
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which → pop → what
It's either that, or sharing news articles, discussing what's happening, or wishing each other luck for concerts.
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what → share → concerts
What did you learn from performing with Elton John?
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you → learn → John
I was about 17 years old when I went to LA to perform with his band, playing the viola.
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I → go → viola
He was so charismatic in the way he got the crowd going and had them in the palm of his hand.
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crowd → get → hand
I haven't played the viola since I was about 22 because now, I'm only a pianist, but I did grow up playing violin and viola.
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I → play → violin
What is the most nerve-wracking performance you've done?
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you → wrack → ?
The Proms was such an important thing in my mind, so I had so many nerves and adrenaline to overcome.
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I → have → nerves
How do you overcome performance anxiety?
I find that overcoming nerves is really just being able to slightly manipulate your body functions, get your mind in the moment rather than erratically jumping around.
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overcoming → overcome → moment
On the most difficult passages, I've learned how to control my breathing and slow down my thoughts and just stay very present in the moment.
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I → learn → moment
Have you seen attitudes towards female composers change since you released an album by Clara Schumann?
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you → see → Schumann
Over the last few years, I've seen female composers being programmed more and more in recitals and orchestral concerts.
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composers → see → recitals
I myself have been playing lots of Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn, Dobrinka Tabakova, Natalie Klouda and Sofia Gubaidulina as well.
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I → play → Schumann
I don't know if my albums alone are creating a shift, but it's great to see other people exploring female composers too.
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people → know → composers
And it's good to see that it's both women and men doing that, because I don't like the narrative that championing women composers is something only women should do.
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women → see → composers
Do you think classical music is still relevant for young people today?
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music → think → people
I think that it can bring them a greater depth of emotion and also focus compared to other types of music.
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it → think → music
The level of skill that classical musicians have is so high and that's really inspiring for young people to see live and hear on recordings.
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people → have → recordings
In a world with short attention spans and quick videos, I think it's so important for young people's brains to immerse in something that takes a bit more time.
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that → think → time
How can we make classical music more inclusive for young people and people from diverse cultural backgrounds?
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music → make → backgrounds
I think it comes down to arts education in schools.
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it → think → schools
In Britain, it was much better when I was younger but it's actually getting worse now so we're trying to advocate for having access to free music education at every level.
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we → get → level
If you don't have that, then only the wealthy people can afford the education and training, which leads to a less diverse range of people that have reached professional level and are therefore on stage.
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that → have → stage
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia