Looking at the Bigger Picture

PHOTO BY JOHANNA BERGHORN

At age 22, pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason is well-recognized as a rising star in the world of classical music. Her 2021 BBC Proms debut was met with critical acclaim, she has performed with ensembles ranging from the Detroit Symphony to the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, and she recently signed with Sony Classical for her first recital album, set for release this spring.

Kanneh-Mason’s interest in the piano started early, having begun to play the instrument at just three years old. “I think I’ve always wanted to play the piano,” she shares. “There hasn’t really been a time when I didn’t want to.”

Aside from that consistency, it’s the piano’s repertoire — including its vast array of concertos — which have fueled her passion for the instrument. “There’s just so much to discover on piano, and so that constant discovery and learning — and also just knowing it’s been a part of my life for 19 years now — is why I love it so much.”

Among that repertoire is Mozart’s vibrant Piano Concerto No. 23, featured in the Calgary Phil’s Jeneba Kanneh-Mason Plays Mozart concerts on 21 + 22 March. Like the piano itself, Kanneh-Mason has a longstanding connection to the music.

“When I first heard the concerto, it was the second movement I listened to first, and I used to listen to it on repeat.”

As she prepares for her Calgary performances of Mozart’s concerto, which is somewhat operatic in tone (material from its second movement would even eventually appear in the composer’s Don Giovanni), Kanneh-Mason is paying particular attention to the expressive nuances of the piece. Keeping what she calls a “broad” musical ear allows her to interpret the concerto’s operatic elements on the piano — which, compared to her other instrument, the cello, can be more challenging to make “sing.” And, while the process of practicing often lends itself to detailed work on small sections of a piece, in performance Kanneh-Mason aims to take a more large-scale approach.

“Now that I’ve been playing the piece for a while I really want to zoom out and look at the bigger picture,” she explains. Here, that bigger picture is characterized by long melodic lines which serve “the lightness and playfulness of the music” while still maintaining “the drama and the opera” of Mozart’s work.

Listening to recordings of other pianists’ interpretations of the concerto also makes up an important part of Kanneh-Mason’s preparation process, but she doesn’t feel restricted by the piece’s rich performance history and the potential audience preconceptions which come along with it: “I don’t feel limited by the fact that it’s loved.”

While Kanneh-Mason is well known for her solo performances, she prefers collaborative performances — like concertos — to solo recitals. “I think just working with other musicians I learn so much,” she says. “I feel like I get a whole other insight into how pieces are played, and then getting to know the conductor and orchestra, and finding that kind of musical common ground is really important to me.”

In that same spirit of collaboration, Kanneh-Mason’s most anticipated moment in the piece isn’t one that features the piano: “I think what stands out to me the most is actually a passage in the second movement when the piano isn’t playing, and it’s when the clarinet has that beautiful solo,” she shares. “I’m really looking forward to that.”

This appreciation for collaboration stems, in part, from Kanneh-Mason’s highly musical upbringing. One of seven children who all play instruments, she is the third of her siblings to embark on a career as a soloist (along with older brother, the cellist Sheku, and sister Isata, who is also a pianist). As such, collaboration with her family has been integral to the development of Kanneh-Mason’s musicianship.

“I think it still shapes the way I play now, and we’re constantly talking and playing with each other, so I’m learning a lot from them musically all the time,” she says. “I’m so used to collaborating with other musicians now, and hearing different opinions, and being able to quickly change the way I’m playing a certain piece.”

That immersive musical environment has also fostered what has become a lifelong love for classical music as a whole: “I think I became interested in music because the moment I was born it was just all around me — playing on CDs and in different practice rooms around the house — so I learned to love music at a very young age.”

As she looks ahead to her Calgary performances, Kanneh-Mason hopes to highlight that love for classical music, and for live music in general: “I hope that if audiences are coming to the performances and going away feeling better, or inspired, or just more in love with Mozart, then I will have done my job.”