Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason: Obsession is a driver

Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason: Obsession is a driver

John Wilson speaks to British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason about his obsession with music, adjusting to fame and how he’s faced racist abuse.

While still a student, he performed to an audience of more than one billion people at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, instantly becoming one of the most recognisable classical performers in the world.

Now, still just 26 years old, he explains the unique joy of performing with his family. Kanneh-Mason is one of seven siblings, all are talented musicians and regularly play together.

Of Antiguan decent, he was the first black person to win BBC Young Musician of the Year. He’s also used his profile to join calls for dropping ‘Rule, Britannia!’ from the Last Night of the Proms, explaining how difficult it is for someone whose ancestors were enslaved to hear imperial songs sung with such determination.

Thank you to the This Cultural Life team for helping to make this programme. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC. You can listen on the BBC World Service, Mondays and Wednesdays at 0700 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out twice a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presenter: John Wilson Producers: Alex Loftus, Ben Cooper and Edwina Pittman Editor: Nick Holland

Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.

(Image: Sheku Kanneh-Mason. Photo by Ian West - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Jaksot(1814)

Jan Cheek - Executive Councillor, Falkland Islands Government

Jan Cheek - Executive Councillor, Falkland Islands Government

To Britain it's the Falklands, to Argentina the Malvinas. Thirty years ago, the two countries went to war over these islands in the South Atlantic. Now they can smell oil - eight billion barrels worth is being drilled for this year. Is that why Buenos Aires and London are trading insults once again? Jan Cheek is one of the leaders of the 3000 islanders who are about to be asked to vote on whether there should be negotiations with Argentina. She says no but by what right do the Islanders insist they should stay linked to a country on the other side of the world? And for how much longer will the British be prepared to pay the military and diplomatic bill?

12 Joulu 201223min

José Manuel Barroso - President of the European Commission

José Manuel Barroso - President of the European Commission

HARDtalk travels to Oslo for the annual Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony. This year, the prize has been awarded to the European Union which has, according to the panel "for over six decades contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe". José Manuel Barroso has been President of the European Commission since 2004. With the continent’s economic future increasingly uncertain, and as austerity bites, is he confident of a peaceful future for the European Union?(Image: José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

10 Joulu 201223min

Carlos Ghosn - CEO of Renault-Nissan

Carlos Ghosn - CEO of Renault-Nissan

Renault has been long regarded as a jewel in the crown of French industry. But Renault has lost much of its lustre. Despite joining forces with the Japanese giant Nissan, Renault has seen sales and profits slump which is making the French government nervous. Carlos Ghosn is the CEO of Renault and Nissan. He turned Nissan’s fortunes around but can he do the same for Renault?(Image: Carlos Ghosn, Credit: Getty Images)

7 Joulu 201223min

Mike Newell - film director

Mike Newell - film director

Mike Newell is responsible for box office hits like Four Weddings and a Funeral, Donnie Brasco and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He could make almost any film he wants. So why choose his latest movie - a remake of the classic Dickens novel Great Expectations. What more is there to add when there have already been so many adaptions?(Image: Mike Newell, Credit: Getty Images)

6 Joulu 201223min

Peter Voser - CEO of Royal Dutch Shell

Peter Voser - CEO of Royal Dutch Shell

The United States is about to become the world's largest producer of oil and gas. Quite remarkable for a country that only a few years ago was the world's largest importer of gas. It's a turnaround made possible by shale and it comes at a time of rapidly increasing demand from China, India and the Middle East. Peter Voser is the boss of Royal Dutch Shell one of the biggest energy companies in the world. With economies so thirsty for power, producers are being driven to new frontiers - but at what cost?(Image: Peter Voser, Credit: Getty Images)

3 Joulu 201223min

Jeh Johnson- General Counsel, US Department of Defense

Jeh Johnson- General Counsel, US Department of Defense

How far will Barack Obama go in taking on critics who say the United States has abandoned its role as the global champion of human rights? America's counter-terrorism measures after 9/11 - including targeted killings and indefinite periods of detention without trial - have angered many. Former President Jimmy Carter has said the US has now lost its moral authority as a result. Zeinab Badawi speaks to Jeh Johnson, the General Counsel of the US Defense Department, the Pentagon's top lawyer and a close ally of Barack Obama.(Image: Jeh Johnson. Credit: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)

30 Marras 201223min

Michael Woodford - Former CEO, Olympus

Michael Woodford - Former CEO, Olympus

Zeinab Badawi speaks to the British businessman Michael Woodford, who rose to become chief-executive of one of the most iconic Japanese companies - the camera and medical equipment maker, Olympus. He then exposed fraud at the heart of its leadership and was sacked after 30 years of service. Three bosses of the Tokyo-based company subsequently admitted he was right and it emerged they had hidden $1.7 billion in investment losses, dating back to the 1990s. What does his case tell us about business culture, corporate scandals and whistle-blowing today?

28 Marras 201223min

Frans Baleni - General Secretary, South African National Union of Mineworkers

Frans Baleni - General Secretary, South African National Union of Mineworkers

It has become known as the 'Marikana massacre', when 34 people were killed as police in South Africa opened fire on striking miners. For many it had echoes of Sharpeville in 1960, one of the defining events which opened the world's eyes to the consequences of apartheid. For Frans Baleni, General Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, Marikana is a challenge - not just to his union - but to the whole post-apartheid political system in which the NUM has been a key player. Eighteen years after black South Africans won legal equality, is the violence evidence that the system has failed all but a tiny political elite?(Image: Hundreds of people attend a memorial service for the people killed in a wildcat strike at Lonmin's Marikana mine. Credit: STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/GettyImages)

26 Marras 201223min

Suosittua kategoriassa Politiikka ja uutiset

rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
aikalisa
rss-podme-livebox
politiikan-puskaradio
rss-vaalirankkurit-podcast
otetaan-yhdet
et-sa-noin-voi-sanoo-esittaa
rikosmyytit
linda-maria
rss-hyvaa-huomenta-bryssel
the-ulkopolitist
rss-sinivalkoinen-islam
rss-kaikki-uusiksi
rss-raha-talous-ja-politiikka
rss-pallo-keskelle-2
rss-mina-ukkola
rss-polikulaari-humanisti-vastaa-ja-muut-ts-podcastit
rss-merja-mahkan-rahat
rss-50100-podcast