British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, one of the brightest young stars on the classical music scene, caught the world’s attention in May 2018 after performing at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Windsor Castle. His performance was greeted with universal excitement after being watched by nearly two billion people globally. His highly anticipated second album, released in January 2020, features the iconic Elgar Cello Concerto and an illustrious collaboration with Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra, recorded at Abbey Road studios. The first black winner of the BBC Young Musician competition (2016), Sheku became one 2018’s biggest breakthrough artists following the success of his debut recording for Decca Classics, Inspiration, featuring the Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1 with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla. The phenomenal success of the album propelled Sheku to a spot at number 11 in the Official UK Album charts. Sheku’s own arrangement of Bob Marley’s No Woman No Cry was also featured on the album, and went viral on social media, clocking 1 million streams in its first month on Spotify alone. He went on to receive two Classical BRIT Awards, performed at the BAFTAs, partnered with design icon and Paul Smith, and in July 2018 became the first artist to receive the new BRIT Certified Breakthrough Award, having sold over 30,000 copies of his debut album in the UK and surpassing 100,000 album sales worldwide.
