Classical stars Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason play concert to celebrate Derbyshire church's 200th anniversary

Cellist Sheku and pianist Isata will play at St Peter’s Church, Belper on October 29, 2024. The brother and sister have just a handful of concerts in the UK next year.

Sheku, 24, shot to fame when he won the BBC Young Musician Of The Year in 2016 and was the featured musician during Last Night of the Proms 2023. He played at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in 2018. Sheku appeared at Glastonbury Festival in 2017 when he joined the electronic music group Clean Bandit on stage.

Isata, 27, attended the Purcell School before earning a place to study at the Royal Academy of Music on the prestigious Sir Elton John Scholarship. She later performed with the rock superstar himself in Los Angeles in 2013. Isata made her debut at the BBC Proms with Sheku in 2020 in an unusual concert; they played to an empty Royal Albert Hall because of Covid restrictions and their performance was broadcast by the BBC.

George Gunby, who is organising the concert in Belper, said: “The concerts performed by Sheku and Isata are becoming legendary. They are rock stars of the classical world. I wanted a special night for the bicentenary of St Peter's Church and there is no doubt that it will be one of the concerts of the year in the UK.”

Sheku and Isata have been rated by Classic FM radio station among the top 20 classical musicians performing today. Raised in Nottingham, they are part of a family of seven children who have all attended the country’s leading music academies and colleges. The five eldest siblings – including Isata and Sheku – performed at the Bafta awards in 2018 and all seven appeared in the Royal Variety Show in December 2019.

Tickets for Sheku and Isata’s concert in Belper cost £45 and £35 (under 16s), available online from www.livetickets org, www.eventbrite.co.uk, www.belperfringe.org or in person from Derby Live at the Guildhall Theatre, Derby or St Peter’s Church, Belper.