Top musician forced to cancel Toronto concert after Air Canada refused to give his priceless cello a seat on plane

Sheku Kanneh-Mason performs on stage during the 31st annual Victoires de la Musique Classique awards at the Opéra Berlioz Le Corum in Montpellier, southern France, on February 29, 2024. Pascal Guyot/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource

Famed British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, who became a household name after performing at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, has said he had to cancel a concert in Canada after the country’s largest airline denied his pre-booked seat for his cello.

Kanneh-Mason is currently on a winter tour in North America with his sister, pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason, and the pair were scheduled to perform in Toronto on Wednesday.

“We were deeply saddened not to be able to perform for you at Koerner Hall last night. We had severe misfortune with the flights and tried our very best to reach you,” the duo said, addressing fans in Canada’s biggest city, in a joint statement posted on social media on Thursday.

“First we had delays, then a cancellation, and the day concluded by being denied boarding with the cello – despite having a confirmed seat for it – on a new, final flight into Toronto. After nine anxious hours at the airport, we realised our journey wasn’t going to be possible,” the statement continued.

“We can only dream of a time when all airlines have a standardised, global and carefully considered approach to the carriage of precious instruments that are booked to travel in the cabin,” they added.

CNN has reached out to Air Canada for comment.

According to his website, Kanneh-Mason’s cello, which is on indefinite loan to him, was made in 1700 by famed Venetian luthier Matteo Goffriller. It is worth €3 million ($3.15 million), according to a short film about the instrument.

The siblings, who said they are working to secure a new concert date for next year, tagged Air Canada’s social handle in the post.

Air Canada says on its website that it allows passengers to buy a seat for their musical instrument as long as it does not exceed 162.5 centimeters (64 inches) in height/length or 36 kilograms (80 pounds) in weight. However, it warns that the number of instruments that each flight can accommodate it limited.

“This is a frequent and extremely frustrating experience for Sheku and many professional musicians with instruments that need to travel in the cabin of an aircraft,” Kanneh-Mason’s management at EMM Ltd/IMG Artists said in a statement to CNN Friday.

“It seems that we can arrange and provide all the necessary tickets, required specialist cello bookings, visas, proof of engagements and yet all too regularly there is an inconsistency of experience and training with booking systems and ground staff at airports,” it continued.

“We would welcome some constructive discussion with the airline industry body. Whilst Air Canada has now at least refunded all the tickets, we have yet to receive any form of apology for their error which led to over a thousand people having their concert tickets cancelled that evening,” it added.

Kanneh-Mason began to play the cello at age six and rose to fame after giving a spellbinding performance at the wedding of Harry and Meghan in 2018. He was 19 years old at the time.

Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason are just two of seven musical siblings from Nottingham, England who play the piano, cello or violin.

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