Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason Releases New Book, "The Power of Music"

In this memoir, Kanneh-Mason reflects on his experiences as a state-educated musician of color, as well as his background and values more broadly

The British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason has recently released his first book. Titled The Power of Music: How Music Connects Us All, the book has been published by the Penguin Viking publishing house and is available now.

In the text, Kanneh-Mason reflects on his musical journey. He considers how his experiences were shaped by his being Black and state-educated, and details the various barriers in the British education system that make it difficult for other young people of his background to become high-level classical musicians.

"In effect we have a two-tier education system in the UK, and its result is that we are educating our children differently from each other, along lines of disadvantage and plenty," Kanneh-Mason writes. "Private schools offer prestigious music scholarships for skilled young musicians, and their music facilities are often state-of-the-art."

"To be educated in music within these schools, or education and opportunity outside, requires money, or class status or luck," he continued. "It also requires desire, belief and an appreciation of the importance of music. And all this comes hand-in-hand with education and access."

He also covers experiences such as becoming the first Black winner of the BBC Young Musician Award and performing at Harry and Meghan’s wedding. The book conveys his firm belief that classical music is for everyone, and that we still have some way to go before that ideal can be fully realized.

Kanneh-Mason is presently the artist-in-residence at the Konzerthaus Berlin and was the Lucerne Festival’s artiste étoile in 2024. He has appeared with the Czech Philharmonic, Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, WDR Symphony Cologne, Orchestre National de Lyon, Sinfonia of London, SWR Symphony Stuttgart, Camerata Salzburg, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the City of Birmingham Symphony.

A graduate of London’s Royal Academy of Music (RAM), Kanneh-Mason holds an MBE and in 2022, was appointed as RAM’s first Menuhin Visiting Professor of Performance Mentoring. In 2016, he was the winner of the BBC Young Musician competition, and his 2018 performance at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Windsor Castle was viewed by two billion people. Kanneh-Mason is a Larsen Artist and currently plays on a 1700 Matteo Goffriller cello with Larsen Il Cannone strings.