7 Lives of Music - The Kanneh-Mason Family

0000: Seven siblings, each one a musical sensation. The Kanneh-Masons prove that classical music is not only made by white people for white people.

It all started with Sheku: The British royal family invited the winner of the "BBC Young Musician Competition 2016" to accompany the wedding ceremony of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on the cello. Overnight, he was world famous and dragged his siblings into the spotlight with him. Isata, the eldest of the seven, plays at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, little sister Jeneba at London's Wigmore Hall, each making their way. They meet prominent names along the way, Simon Rattle and Christoph Eschenbach, Daniel Hope and Thomas Hampson. Above all, they go through life together and strengthen each other in climbing the world's victory podiums. They perform at one of the legendary BBC Proms concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and records a CD at the fabled Abbey Road Studios.

The parents are often there, but they don't drill the kids like Bach or the Jackson Five. Kadie and Stuart, with roots in Sierra Leone and the Caribbean, are themselves surprised by the talent and will of their seven children. They manage to nurture these qualities without overwhelming them.
The documentary portrays all the members of the family, looking at their desires and goals, but also at their hurdles and worries. It is present at the rehearsals in the living room, at the kicking on the soccer field and at many concerts. The family knows that even today it is harder for black musicians to succeed in the classical music scene but convincingly demonstrates that it must not remain that way.

Duration 60 min
Director Catharina Kleber
Editor Michaela Stasch
Producer Claus Wischmann
Production Company ZDF/3sat, sounding images
Executive Producer Birgit Lorbeer-Claußen
Executive Producer Sandra Roth