The mother of cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason has spoken out about the “barrage of racism” her son has suffered since appearing on the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs last week.
Kanneh-Mason, 24, is a former BBC Young Musician of the Year who dazzled Royal guests and the wider public with his performance at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018. He has also performed at major events such as the Last Night of the Proms, where he was a soloist last year.
Appearing on Desert Island Discs on Sunday, Kanneh-Mason voiced some criticism of the Proms, urging it to drop the imperial anthem Rule, Britannia! from its roster of songs on the Last Night. “I think maybe some people don’t realise how uncomfortable a song like that can make a lot of people feel,” he said.
Yesterday, his mother Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason addressed a “barrage of racism against my son” on Twitter/X. She described her “horror, rage, heartbreak” about abusive language and threats that have been directed towards him in the past few days and said her son was someone “trying to engage in a conversation about music and inclusion”.
Sheku Kanneh-Mason has suggested other forms of traditional music could take the place of Rule, Britannia! at the Proms. “There is so much wonderful British music, the wealth of folk music from this country is astonishing,” he told Desert Island Discs host Lauren Laverne.
In 2020, there was outrage from some quarters when Rule, Britannia! and Land Of Hope and Glory were not sung on the Last Night.
