From St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle to the stage of the Canberra Theatre Centre, wunderkind cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason is happy just to be performing.
Now aged 23, Kanneh-Mason became known to the world when he played cello at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. He was then only 19 but perfectly poised playing before a congregation of royalty and Hollywood and a global television audience.
"I've very much looking forward to coming, it's my first visit to Australia," Kanneh-Mason said on a Zoom call from London.
The Kanneh-Masons are Isata, 25 (piano), Braimah, 23 (violin), Sheku, 22 (cello), Konya, 21 (piano and violin), Jeneba, 19 (piano and cello), Aminita, 16 (violin and piano), and Mariatu, 12 (cello and piano).
Softly spoken and dressed in a red Nike shirt, Kanneh-Mason looks like he's about to tear onto a soccer field and kick a ball around.
But this polite young man is a musical wunderkind, the winner of the BBC Young Musician award in 2016, and the first cellist in history to reach the top 10 of the UK album charts. He was also honoured with an MBE at the age of only 22.
It must have been a remarkable household to have seven children grow up to be talented musicians.
"I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity of having cello lessons and piano lessons from a young age," he said.
"Music was first introduced to me at home, we used to listen to lots of music together as a family and watch concerts. And from there, when we all started having lessons, it was nice to grow up and have people all together in the house practising. It made it much easier."
In 2015, he and his siblings were competitors on Britain's Got Talent as The Kanneh-Masons.
Three years later, he was on the world stage, performing at the royal wedding of Harry and Meghan.
"It was a fun experience and a great opportunity to perform in front of so many people watching on TV," he said, of the wedding.
"I'd performed for Prince Harry before at an event so maybe it was his choice. They didn't talk to me on the day because they were very busy getting married. They sent me a letter later and thanked me."
He says travelling to the other side of the world with his siblings also won't be a problem.
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"I think it's going to be a lot of fun," he said. "We all get on quite well as well."
So what can we expect from the show?
"The first half of the program is recital, with my sister Isata, so two sonatas, and the second half of the program will be the rest of our family joining us as well," he said.
As a child, Kanneh-Mason said he never resented having to do music lessons, but enjoyed them; inspiration for any young person now tackling scales and chords. "I had very, very good teachers and always felt I was being challenged and inspired at every lesson I had," he said.
- Sheku Kanneh-Mason and the Kanneh-Mason Family will be performing at the Canberra Theatre Centre on Sunday, August 14 at 2pm. Tickets: canberratheatrecentre.com.au/ or ring 6275 2700.
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