Recital Sheku Kanneh-Mason

No other composer has left such a strong mark on music history as Johann Sebastian Bach. And his influence is hardly limited to the sphere of classical music, as Bach’s traces can also be found in jazz, pop, and folk music. This gave “artiste étoile” Sheku Kanneh-Mason the idea of exploring these connections in his recital. He will play excerpts from Bach’s Suite No. 1 in G major for solo cello and, with pianist Harry Baker, arrangements of preludes and chorales by the composer. With the Bachiana brasileira No. 2, he presents a tribute to the legendary director of St. Thomas in Leipzig by Bach admirer Heitor Villa-Lobos. And with Moravian Folk Songs by Leoš Janáček, he sets out to reveal unexpected cross-references. Like Bach, the Czech Janáček also drew on the pure source of folk music, Kanneh-Mason explains, and was a kindred spirit. But he will go one step further by alternating Bach with music by the American jazz greats Bill Evans and Pat Metheny that shows how Bach-style polyphony served as a fertile source of inspiration for them. The same goes for the British soul and folk singers Lianne La Havas and Laura Mvula, who are also an exciting part of this lineage.