Jeneba Kanneh-Mason

At times, it seems as if all the musicality for miles gathers within a single family. That is the case for the Kanneh-Mason family from Nottingham, England. Seven siblings, all musicians at a high level. The Bergen International Festival has previously welcomed both cellist Sheku and pianist Isata, and like her siblings, Jeneba has played since early childhood. 

‘She plays with power and authority. No one could have delivered Price’s work more convincingly,’ wrote The Guardian when 20-year-old Jeneba made her solo debut at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall. Together with Chineke! Orchestra, she performed a piano concerto by Florence Price (1887–1953), the first African-American woman to have her music performed by major symphony orchestras. 

In 2022 Jeneba Kanneh-Mason was named a Classic FM Rising Star, and in 2024 she returned to the Royal Albert Hall with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto. Her playing style is described as poetic and confident, with emotional depth. 

Like the rest of her family, Jeneba is dedicated to bringing music to light that is not widely known. In Håkonshallen she performs works by Price and William Grant Still, alongside classics by Bach, Beethoven, Debussy and Chopin.

Image above: Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, photo by Johanna Berghorn.

Contributors

• Jeneba Kanneh-Mason piano

Works

• Johann Sebastian Bach  (1685–1750) 
  Partita No. 5 in G major, BWV 829 
  1. Praeambulum 
  2. Allemande 
  3. Corrente 
  4. Sarabande 
  5. Tempo di Minuetta 
  6. Passepied 
  7. Gigue 

• Ludwig van Beethoven  (1770–1827) 
  Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor "The Tempest", op. 31 no. 2 
  1. Largo – Allegro 
  2. Adagio 
  3. Allegretto 

• William Grant Still  (1895–1978) 
  Summerland 

• Claude Debussy  (1862–1918) 
  La fille aux cheveux de lin 
  Bruyères 

• Florence Price  (1887–1953) 
  Fantasie Nègre  No. 1 in E-flat minor 

• Frédéric Chopin  (1810–1849) 
  Ballade No. 3 in A-flat major, op. 47 
  Ballade No. 4 in F minor, op. 52 

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