Royal wedding cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason to headline online Philharmonia Orchestra concert

Going digital: Sheku Kanneh-Mason will perform for classical music fans next month
Getty Images for The T.J. Marte

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's wedding cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason is set to headline one of three digital concerts announced today by The Philharmonia Orchestra.

Kanneh-Mason, 21, who performed three pieces of classical music at the May 2018 wedding of Harry and Megan, will kick off the series on July 17 and will join with the Philharmonia Orchestra to perform Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No. 1 and Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis.

The session, which is free to watch, will be recorded in advance with Kanneh-Mason and the orchestra adhering to social distancing rules. It will be 50 minutes long and will include documentary material about the process of creating digital performances and will be broadcast on YouTube.

The two other sessions are yet to be announced. Award-winning musician John Wilson will conduct Kanneh-Mason's session.

Kanneh-Mason was the winner of the 2016 BBC Young Musician competition, recording his debut album, Inspiration, two years later with Decca Records. He won male artist of the year and the critics’ choice awards at the classic BRIT awards in 2018. In January, he released his second album which reached number eight in the UK official album chart, making the star the youngest classical instrumentalist and the first cellist in history to reach the UK top 10.

Michael Fuller, Interim Managing Director of the Philharmonia Orchestra, said: “We are delighted to be presenting the first Philharmonia performances since we last stood together onstage at our Southbank Centre home, on Sunday 15 March 2020. As has been the case for the entire performing arts sector, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought extraordinary artistic, financial and organisational challenges, but we have been determined to move as quickly as possible to getting the orchestra playing again, and to return to serving our audiences.

“Having invested in a Digital programme of work for over a decade, the Philharmonia is in a good position to create this new format and continue our sector-leading work. We want to offer this music to all during this unexpected and difficult time and we hope it brings some measure of comfort and healing. We are simply thrilled to be performing again.”

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