Page 43 - FULL BOOK Isata Kanneh-Mason Childhood Tales

When did Isata first play the piano?

In her 2023 interview for BBC Music Magazine, Isata told our interviewer Jessica
Duchen that she had her first encounters with a piano at her paternal grandparents’
home in Antigua, aged about five.

When did she start piano lessons?

Isata started learning piano young, at the age of six. She also had lessons on the
recorder, violin and viola, but she soon knew that the piano was instrument for her.
‘It wasn't a conscious thing then, but I remember feeling natural and at home at the
piano, whereas on the violin, I felt uncomfortable for much of the time,' she told
Jessica.

'I think what I love about the piano now is its orchestral nature. There are so many
different voices, colours and sounds that you can get from this one instrument.
Whether it’s a solo, a concerto or chamber music, the piano can do so much.’

What has she said about her musical childhood?

‘My first two years of piano playing was basically me just composing and
improvising,’ Isata said in her BBC Music Magazine interview. ‘I remember hearing
pop songs on the radio, and then I’d go home and try and play them.

'Many of my early musical memories are about listening to music: I remember
listening to the Schubert ‘Trout’ Quintet in the car – we were all obsessed with it! –
and the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 in the living room with my sister,
Jeneba.’