Sheku Kanneh-Mason with Castalian String Quartet

Sheku Kanneh-Mason cello  

Castalian String Quartet
Sini Simonen violin
Daniel Roberts violin
Natalie Loughran viola 
Steffan Morris cello

Schubert String Quartet in C minor 'Quartettsatz', D.703  
Natalie Klouda Suite for Solo Cello  
Thomas Adès Arcadiana for String Quartet  
Schubert String Quintet in C Major, D.956

Acclaimed cellist Sheku Kanneh Mason presents a contemporary response to Bach’s iconic Solo Cello Suites, blending Baroque and Indian classical styles, before joining the prizewinning Castalian String Quartet for Schubert’s final and finest chamber work, the sublime Quintet in C. A Schubertian echo emerges too in Thomas Adès’s aquatically nostalgic Arcadiana.

Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason’s mission is to make music accessible to all, whether that’s performing for children in a school hall, at an underground club, or in the world’s leading concert venues. After winning the BBC Young Musician competition in 2016, Sheku’s performance at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Windsor Castle in 2018 was watched by two billion people worldwide. Since his debut in 2017, Sheku has performed every summer at the BBC Proms, including as soloist at the 2023 Last Night of the Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In 2024, his family-friendly Proms appearances with the Fantasia Orchestra were designed to introduce orchestral classical music to a new generation of music lovers

Castalian Quartet were formed in 2011, and studied in Hannover before being selected by the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) in 2016. They were awarded First Prize at the 2015 Lyon International Chamber Music Competition and in 2018 were recipients of the inaugural Merito String Quartet Award and Valentin Erben Prize, as well as a prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship. The ensemble was named Young Artist of the Year at the 2019 Royal Philharmonic Society Awards.