The Programme
The first part of the evening will have the three soloists playing compositions without the orchestra. The music for this has not yet been announced.
INTERVAL
The second part will comprise the following pieces played by the soloists and the orchestra:
Traditional Serbian – Adje Jano 
    arr. Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Tom Fetherstonhaugh & Harry Baker
Traditional English – Scarborough Fair 
    arr. Simon Parkin & Harry Baker
Brahms – Hungarian Dances (likely nos. 1, 2 & 5) 
Bartok – Romanian Dances
Burt Bacharach/Hal David – I Say a Little Prayer 
    arr. Sheku Kanneh-Mason & Harry Baker
Bob Marley – Redemption Song 
    arr. Sheku Kanneh-Mason & Harry Baker
Laura Mvula – Sing to the Moon 
Dvorak – Song to the Moon 
Antonio Jobim – The Girl from Ipanema
    arr. Sergio Assad & Harry Baker
Astor Piazzolla – Libertango 
    arr. Harry Baker
Stevie Wonder – I Wish 
Bernard Edwards/Nile Rodgers – Good Times 
    arr. Sheku Kanneh-Mason & Harry Baker

Photo by © Ollie Ali

Sheku Kanneh-Mason

Sheku is a graduate of London’s Royal Academy of Music and in May 2022 was appointed as the Academy’s first Menuhin Visiting Professor of Performance Mentoring. He is an ambassador for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Future Talent, and Music Masters. Sheku was appointed an MBE in the 2020 New Year’s Honours List.

After winning the BBC Young Musician competition in 2016, cellist Sheku’s performance at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Windsor Castle in 2018 was watched by two billion people worldwide.

Highlights of the 23/24 season include the Last Night of the Proms with the BBC Symphony and Marin Alsop, performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Orquesta Nacional de España, Oslo Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, and San Francisco Symphony.

A Decca Classics recording artist, Sheku’s 2020 album Elgar reached No. 8 in the overall Official UK Album Chart, making him the first ever cellist to reach the UK Top 10.

Whether performing for children in a school hall, at an underground club or in the world’s leading concert venues, Sheku’s mission is to make music accessible to all.

Photo by John Davis

Braimah Kanneh-Mason

Braimah Kanneh-Mason is a dynamic and versatile young violinist performing nationally and internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. He has played at some of the UK’s leading music festivals and collaborated with musicians such as Nicola Benedetti and Tom Poster and been soloist with the Bournemouth Symphony and London Philharmonic Orchestras. Braimah has enjoyed radio presenting work for BBC World Service, BBC Radio 4 and has co-presented a series for Classic FM with his family. He is a passionate advocate for equal opportunity and diversity in music education and is a Junior Ambassador for the Music in Secondary Schools Trust. Braimah has recorded on the Decca Classics album Carnival.

Plínío Fernandes 

London-based guitarist Plínío Fernandes is among the finest of a young generation of performers fluent in the tradition of classical guitar and Brazilian folk music. As a soloist, he combines artistic inheritances from Antônio Carlos Jobim and Milton Nascimento with the rigour of classical guitar technique. Born in São Paulo, Fernandes received guitar lessons from his father. By age 12, he had won a couple of youth guitar competitions and played Vivaldi’s Concerto in D Major, RV 93, with the Campo Grande Symphony Orchestra. He eventually made his way to London, where he attended the Royal Academy of Music and earned undergraduate and graduate degrees. Fernandes signed with Decca in 2022; his debut album, Saudade, features popular songs from Brazil, arranged by Sérgio Assad. It also includes duets with cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Brazilian singer María Rita, and well-known selections by composer Heitor Villa-Lobos.

© Kaupo Kikkas

Fantasia Orchestra

Founded in 2016 by conductor Tom Fetherstonhaugh, 28-piece Fantasia Orchestra is formed of some of the country’s most exciting young musicians at the start of their musical careers. The orchestra’s thrilling and varied concerts showcase classical and contemporary music-making of the highest level have drawn great acclaim.

Fantasia Orchestra tackles a broad and eclectic range of repertoire with fresh, youthful, and energetic vigour, breathing new life into old works and celebrating new ones. Recent highlights during the Covid-19 pandemic include Tasmin Little’s final concerto performances and Dvorak’s Cello Concerto with 2016 BBC Young Musician winner Sheku Kanneh-Mason.

Fantasia made their festival debut at the Proms at St Jude’s in 2019, playing with Isata Kanneh-Mason. In 2021, they played the Schools Prom and Last Night of the Proms, where they were joined by violinist Thomas Gould and baritone Tom Mole.

Generously sponsored by The Charlotte Heber-Percy Charitable Trust and the CHK Foundation

Delicious food and drink is available at all concerts as well as a limited number of post concert suppers at the nearby Old Vicarage where you can dine with the musicians. Click here for menu options.