He'll be performing at the 2024 BBC Proms, and is a member of an astonishingly talented musical family. But who is violinist Braimah Kanneh-Mason?
Who is Braimah Kanneh-Mason?
Braimah Kanneh-Mason is a British violinist who has performed throughout the UK, Europe, USA and Australia. He is one of the Kanneh-Masons, a famously musical family of seven siblings.
An avid chamber musician, Braimah is a member of the Kaleidoscope Collective and the Kanneh-Mason Piano Trio with his siblings, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason. He has also collaborated with artists including Nicola Benedetti, Tom Poster and Priya Mitchell.
How old is Braimah Kanneh-Mason?
Braimah Kanneh-Mason is 26 years old and grew up in Nottingham. He is the second eldest of the seven Kanneh-Mason siblings, after his sister Isata.
Where did he grow up?
Braimah Kanneh-Mason grew up in the family home in Nottingham. His father, Stuart Mason, is a business executive of Antiguan background; his mother, Kadiatu Kanneh, is a university educator born in Sierra Leone and has chronicled her experiences in the book Raising the Kanneh-Masons.
Who are the Kanneh-Masons?
Braimah is the second eldest of seven musical siblings – pianist Isata, cellist Sheku, pianist-violinist Konya, pianist Jeneba, violinist-pianist Aminata and cellist-pianist Mariatu and the others.
When did Braimah start learning the violin?
Braimah started learning the piano when he was six years old, and took up the violin a year later.
‘As soon as I was old enough to understand what concerts and music making were all about, I wanted to be part of it,’ he says.
His childhood hero was violinist Itzhak Perlman, and later Maxim Vengerov, too. But he also listened to music by Bob Marley and Michael Jackson.
Who are Braimah Kanneh-Mason’s teachers?
Braimah is currently studying with Barnabás Kelemen and Eszter Perenyi at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. He is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music where studied with Mateja Marinkovic and Jack Liebeck.
What albums has Braimah Kanneh-Mason recorded?
Braimah as recorded the album Carnival with his famous siblings. The album features Saint-Saëns’s Carnival of the Animals with narration by Michael Morpurgo and Olivia Colman, alongside works by Tchaikovsky, Bartók, Grieg, Rimsky-Korsakov and Eric Whitacre.
What type of outreach projects is he involved in?
An advocate for equal opportunity in music education, Braimah is a Cultural Ambassador to Antigua and Barbuda, and a Junior Ambassador for Music in Secondary Schools Trust. He has also been a mentor at Sistema England.
‘Of course, I’m biased being a musician, but I think all people would agree that music is fundamental. And whether you’re going to be a musician or not, it’s such an amazing thing to be able to express yourself through music,’ he says.
‘The government covered the costs of music tuition when my parents were young. This opened up music to a wider range of people. But these days the use of instrumental music has dropped dramatically because schools no longer have the money to provide it.’
What violin does Braimah Kanneh-Mason play?
Braimah currently performs on a Gagliano violin on loan through the Beare’s International Violin Society.
The Kanneh-Masons at the 2024 BBC Proms
Braimah joins his brother Sheku for two performances at this year's Proms.
On 4 August (Prom 20), the siblings join the guitarist Plínio Fernandes, plus the Fantasia Orchestra and their conductor Tom Fetherstonhaugh, for a programme of chamber arrangements of pop, classical and folk music including pieces by Bartók and Brahms, as well as the classic folk song 'Scarborough Fair'.
Then, on 5 August (Prom 22), the same forces reunite for a Relaxed Prom performance of selected pieces from the night before, in company with presenter Jess Gillam.