Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason opens up on performing at Harry and Meghan’s wedding

When Sheku Kanneh-Mason played at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding last year, he didn’t get nervous at all.

The remarkable 20-year-old professional cellist has revealed playing to millions of people across the world didn’t really phase him.

‘I don’t really get nervous before a performance, as long as I see it as a performance,’ he explained to GQ HYPE. ‘A competition can often have a feeling of an added pressure, but as long as you see it as a performance then I think of it as a fun experience, even at the Royal Wedding.

‘I guess I focus more on what I want to say and what I want to do, as opposed to what could go wrong.’

The Nottingham-born musician then offered some wise words for performers who get nervous before performances.

‘Nerves aren’t always a bad thing if you put them in the right place,’ he mused. ‘They provide adrenaline and stuff like that.

‘I definitely feel different when I am performing to when I am practising. There is that feeling of excitement and adrenaline, but I wouldn’t say I get nervous.’

During the tell-all interview, Sheku also opened up about being a role model to people of colour in a very ‘white’ field.

He said: ‘I think that if I perform around the world to the highest level I can and if I am able to inspire other young people who look like me to see cello and classical music as something that they want to do and want to listen to, then that is a great thing.

‘But that is not the point of why I play. Though it is definitely something that is important to me as well.’

What an inspiring young man.

See the full interview available online now via GQ HYPE.

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