A Family Affair

2018 was the year of cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason. Two billion people watched him perform at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle; it was his breakthrough. That year he also made his debut at the Cello Biennale Amsterdam, together with his sister, pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason. They have played together since childhood and give recitals worldwide. ‘Immensely engaging players: a star duo is born’, wrote The Independent. 

Felix Mendelssohn also had a brother who played the cello. He dedicated the many works he composed for cello and piano to him, including his first sonata. As a woman composing in the early 20th century, Rebecca Clarke faced considerable prejudice. While her cello sonata is the composer’s own arrangement, it is best known as a sonata for viola. Nadia Boulanger was long recognized mainly as the music teacher of Bernstein, Milhaud, Piazzolla and Glass, but her own compositions are now gaining increasing recognition.