Poster Isata Kanneh-Mason
Isata Kanneh-Mason is an award-winning British pianist.
Robin Clewley
Rhapsody in Black

Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason grew up in a family surrounded by music

Rhapsody in Black - Isata Kanneh Mason
DOWNLOAD

When she was 17, pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason entered a piano competition, hoping to win it and launch her concert career.  When she didn’t win, Kanneh-Mason spent the next number of years continuing her piano study with no idea regarding how to get concerts. Now, though, she looks at those years of struggle as an essential part of her development as a musician, paving the way for her current success as a concert and recording artist.

She had help along the way, primarily from her parents, who made sacrifices to ensure that she and her six younger siblings have all had wonderful music educations. Kanneh-Mason’s parents were themselves no strangers to obstacles in life. Her mother, from Sierra Leone, is part Welsh. Her father is from Antigua and encountered racism in England from a young age. The barriers the Kanneh-Masons encountered as a mixed-race couple in Nottingham, England, prepared them for the criticism they faced when people accused them of pushing their children into a world where they didn’t belong and were bound to fail. 

Both parents had played the piano, and Isata and her siblings all had piano lessons. Her earliest goal was to study at the Royal Academy in London, and when she started there, she was the only Black student. She won several prizes and awards, including the Elton John Scholarship.  She’s clearly been a great role model for the younger family members, because all of the Kanneh-Masons are now performing musicians.

“We're very used to growing up with music and noise all around. And I think we really enjoyed coming from a big family and coming from a musical family,” she says. “And even now, all of us siblings are still quite close, and many of us live in the same city. So we still see each other often and we still have that bond between us, which is really lovely.”

Credits

Host: Vernon Neal

Producer: Dan Nass

Writers: Andrea Blain and Scott Blankenship

Executive Producer: Julie Amacher

Love the music?

Donate by phone
1-800-562-8440

Show your support by making a gift to YourClassical.

Each day, we’re here for you with thoughtful streams that set the tone for your day – not to mention the stories and programs that inspire you to new discovery and help you explore the music you love.

YourClassical is available for free, because we are listener-supported public media. Take a moment to make your gift today.

More Ways to Give

Your Donation

$5/month
$10/month
$15/month
$20/month
$

Latest Rhapsody in Black Episodes

VIEW ALL EPISODES

Latest Rhapsody in Black Episodes

Duke Ellington's 'Black, Brown and Beige' fuses jazz with classical orchestration

Duke Ellington's 'Black, Brown and Beige' fuses jazz with classical orchestration

Duke Ellington once said, “All arrangements of historic American Negro music have been made by conservatory-trained musicians who inevitably handle it with a European technique. It’s time a big piece of music was written from the inside.” That piece of music was ‘Black, Brown and Beige.’ Find out more in the 'Rhapsody in Black' podcast.

5:00
Meet Vernon Neal, the host of 'Rhapsody in Black'
Pianist Michelle Cann inspires next generation as a noted music teacher
5:00
Wynton Marsalis has jazz and classical chops

Wynton Marsalis has jazz and classical chops

Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis is internationally known for his outstanding career in jazz. Many don’t know that he has also found success in classical music. Find out more in the latest episode of the ‘Rhapsody in Black’ podcast.

5:00
Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason is a young and promising classical music superstar
5:00
Black Violin mixes hip-hop and classical to create an unabashedly Black sound
5:00
Duke Ellington defied mid-20th century labels with 'The Queen's Suite'

Duke Ellington defied mid-20th century labels with 'The Queen's Suite'

Pianist, composer and innovator Duke Ellington is famous today for his jazz and swing music. However, he had a few other visions kicking around in his toolbox, including some memorable suites such as ‘The Queen’s Suite.’ Find out more in the ‘Rhapsody in Black’ podcast.

5:00
Sly5thAve brings together classical, hip-hop, jazz and more in his innovative arrangements
5:00
'Porgy and Bess' paved the way for integration in opera

'Porgy and Bess' paved the way for integration in opera

From the first performance of ‘Porgy and Bess,’ George Gershwin stipulated the opera had to feature an all-Black cast, not white performers in blackface. This benefitted Black opera singers, but their fear was being typecast. Find out more in the ‘Rhapsody in Black’ podcast.

5:00
William Dawson's Tuskegee Institute legacy

William Dawson's Tuskegee Institute legacy

When William Dawson was 12, he ran away from home to study music at the Tuskeegee Institute. In 1930, he returned to his roots as director of the Tuskeegee School of Music, a post he held for 25 years. Find out more in the ‘Rhapsody in Black’ podcast.

5:00
VIEW ALL EPISODES

About Rhapsody in Black

Where we turn up the voices of Black artists in the world of classical music, with host Vernon Neal.

Subscribe to the podcast:  Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicTuneInRSS Feed

About Rhapsody in Black
YourClassical Radio
0:00
0:00