The Kanneh-Masons hope to demystify classical music.
The BBC reports that they may be among Britain's most gifted musical siblings, but the Kanneh-Masons insist they are just like any other family.
"We
were playing a lot of football over lockdown," says eldest brother,
violinist Braimah, 22. "There were a lot of disputes over whether the ball
had crossed the line or not. I'd say when we are playing a game that's when the
arguments start."
Mariatu, 11, a cellist and pianist, says
being the youngest - and the shortest - definitely has its drawbacks,
especially in the kitchen at the family home in Nottingham.
"I'm quite small and everyone just
barges past me and it's quite stressful sometimes and people always pull me
aside by my head which I find annoying."
When they are playing music, however, the classically trained brothers and sisters are, according to sister Isata, 24, "more respectful".
"We
slip into a more professional mood," says the pianist who earlier this
month made her BBC Proms debut at the Royal Albert Hall.
Now they have come together to record
their first album as a family, Carnival, which will be released by their record
label Decca on 6 November.
"It felt like a lovely thing to make
a recording at the ages that we are now, as a snapshot of where we are at the
moment," says cellist Sheku, 21, who played at the wedding of the Duke and
Duchess of Sussex.
But there was another reason. They
decided they wanted to record Carnival of the Animals, by the French composer
Camille Saint-Saëns. The musical suite of movements is dedicated to animals
including lions, elephants and fish.
Sheku, who was the first black winner of
the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in 2016, explains why.
"We all grew up listening to albums
like Peter and the Wolf (Sergei Prokofiev's symphonic fairy tale) as children.
We remembered being so inspired by that and so we wanted to make our
version."
Check out
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