The Duchess of Kent met 19-year-old musician Sheku Kanneh-Mason this week as she welcomed him as an ambassador to her charity, Future Talent.
Sheku was crowned as the BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2016, and performed at the wedding of the Duke & Duchess of Sussex last year.
Photo Credit: Williams Tchoumbou
The Duchess of Kent was a guest at the wedding and heard the cellist play first hand.
Now, a few months after the occasion, Katharine welcomed him to Future Talent as an ambassador of the charity.
The Duchess of Kent said: “We are delighted to have Sheku on board at Future Talent as a role model for our young musicians. With his help, we will continue to inspire and encourage talent and enable young people to flourish and believe in themselves.”
After being appointed as an ambassador, Sheku said: “There should no barriers to enabling young musicians to succeed and I am delighted to be an Ambassador for Future Talent. I am very happy to do what I can to support the work of the charity in developing musical talent where it is needed most.”
Katharine’s biggest passion in life is music, and the very few engagements which she still conducts as a member of The Royal Family are usually musically based. As well as teaching in Hull and London, the Duchess also rented out a flat in London where she taught piano lessons.
Her musical talents came to fruition when she was very young. As a schoolgirl, she was taught to play the piano, the violin and the organ, and narrowly missed out on a place at the Royal Academy of Music.
In her 2011 interview, she said: “When I was teaching the first thing I began to notice was the power of music as a stimulant to these children to give them confidence and self-belief. I began to see that happen all the time.
“Some of the children I taught haven’t necessarily become musicians, but the confidence it has given them, some have joined the Army, some to university, which they might not have done otherwise.
“I have always loved talent; I love that tickle up the neck when you see talent, and I began to realise I was teaching some very, very gifted children.”
