Royal wedding cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason is releasing a new album of works anchored around Elgar’s Cello Concerto.
Entitled Elgar, Kanneh-Mason’s second album was recorded at the Abbey Road Studios with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) and conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.
There are works by the European composers Julius Klengel, Gabriel Faure and the Swiss-born Ernst Bloch.
Also featured are Simon Parkin’s new arrangements of the Scarborough Fair (for cello and classical guitar), Spring Song by English composer Frank Bridge, and more Elgar: Romance in D minor and a new take on Nimrod from Enigma Variations, arranged for six cellos.
The musician, 20, said: “All the pieces are connected, either exercising similar emotions to the Cello Concerto, or written around the same time.”
Over the next few months the star is also embarking on a tour of Europe and the US.
Kanneh-Mason found fame following his performance at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in 2018, where he played Sicilienne by von Paradis and Apres Un Reve by Faure in St George’s Chapel in Windsor.
Last year also saw the release of his Classical Brit award-winning debut album Inspiration which topped the Classical Album Chart and peaked at number 11 in the Official UK Album Chart.