The Kanneh-Mason family: ‘Everyone definitely had a part to play in Carnival of the Animals’

Sisters Isata, Konya, Jeneba, Aminata and Mariatu all feature alongside their brothers Braimah and Sheku on a new recording of Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals. The hugely gifted septet, originally from Nottingham, were joined on the project by Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman and former Children’s Laureate Sir Michael Morpurgo.

Violinist Braimah, 22, explains that having been raised on Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, “in which each instrument represents an animal”, he and his family hope to turn the next generation on to classical music. “When you’re a child and you have the magic of storytelling and music it makes you really inspired, so we wanted to create our own album to inspire children with Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals.”

Cellist Sheku, 21, winner of the 2016 BBC Young Musician competition, who went on to perform at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, cites how Saint-Saens is “really creative in how he paints vivid images of the animals” through music. Combining the suite with Morpurgo’s poems makes for an “often very humorous” mix, he says.

The composer’s lightness of touch has made Carnival an enduring favourite in the classical canon for 130 years. “I think it’s also the uniqueness of the creation,” says pianist Isata, 24. “Writing music that depicts animals was something unique at the time. I’m sure it’s been done in different ways since but it stands out as a very individual creation.”

They sought out Morpurgo, author of the best-selling books War Horse, Private Peaceful and Kensuke’s Kingdom, Sheku says, because “he has a love of music... it definitely fitted really perfectly with the idea for this album”.

“When we approached him to ask if he might write something for this Carnival, he replied with a set of poems that you hear recorded on this album, so he was really enthusiastic about. He understands the music, the humour of it, the beauty of it and sometimes the sadness of it as well. That’s all captured in the poems.”

Having Colman read some of the poems “was definitely the icing on the cake”, says pianist and cellist Jeneba, 18. “I think the way that she read the poems was an acting lesson in itself. It was really moving in some places and I think Michael Morpurgo really appreciated her reading his poems and bringing them to life.”

Isata agrees that with so many solos and duets in the suite, individual family members were able to shine in their own ways. “For example Konya played both her instruments on this album – piano is her first study but she often plays the violin in some of the arrangements for the seven of us,” she says. “I think we all had at least a movement of Carnival that was kind of ours. Even the little ones (violinist Aminata, 15, and cellist Mariatu, 11) had their duets with Sheku. Everyone definitely had a part to play.”

At Jeneba’s suggestion, the family also included their own arrangement of Bob Marley’s Redemption Song. “We’d already arranged it for separate groups of us and then in a rehearsal we were just trying to think of something that would work with all seven of us,” she says. “I thought it would just be something that’s really close to our hearts and we found it quite easy and fun to arrange.”

Recording at Abbey Road Studios during lockdown was a special experience for the younger members of the family. “For both Jeneba and I that was our first time recording at Abbey Road, as well as many wonderful musicians I thought I’d never get the chance to work alongside,” says Konya, 20, who like Isata, Braimah and Sheku is studying at the Royal Academy of Music. “It was just a very inspiring experience.”

The siblings credit the support of their parents, Stuart Mason and Kadiatu Kanneh, and their schools in Nottingham for fostering their talents. Jeneba notes: “At primary school everyone was given the opportunity to pick up an instrument in Year Four and then in our secondary school there were concerts every term, and then also individual lessons if you could pay for it as well as lots of music lessons. I think if we didn’t have those schools we wouldn’t be where we are today, so we’re very grateful.”

Isata was the first member of the family to attend the Royal Academy of Music, with the others following in her footsteps. She says: “I was the first to go to the primary and junior departments just because I was the oldest, but I think maybe when I went Braimah and Sheku saw they could do it and then wanted to follow.”

Braimah, who also plays in a trio with Isata and Sheku, discounts the idea of any sibling rivalry. “From when we first started playing we always played together, so I think all of us felt collaborative, rather than competitive,” he says. “I think also there is just the fact that we play different instruments and are different ages and therefore stages. The main reason that we play together I think just gets rid of that competitive element that might otherwise be there.”

As beneficiaries of music lessons at state school, the Kanneh-Masons are deeply concerned the Covid pandemic could further deprioritise music in the curriculum.

“This has been a growing issue for us and other musicians for a while now,” says Braimah. “The cuts have just grown. The pandemic has just accelerated that loads. We find it very upsetting that there seems to be a stance in which music is a kind of add-on and isn’t really important. Especially over lockdown as everyone turned to the arts and was watching things and listening to music more than ever, I think it would be a shame not to recognise the important status that arts and culture should have in this country. We hope that the Government fund it so that it can continue, that it can be taught as a free right for everyone.”

Carnival of the Animals is out on Friday November 6 on Decca Classics. www.kannehmasons.com