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Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason perform at Koerner Hall in Toronto on May 6, 2022. The Royal Conservatory cancelled a Toronto concert was cancelled after Air Canada refused a seat for the cello played by Sheku.Lisa Sakulensky/Courtesy of The Royal Conservatory
An Air Canada boarding agent refused a cello its seat, and no strings could be pulled to get the instrument in the air. As a result, a sold-out concert in Toronto on Wednesday was called off just hours before its scheduled start.
The night prior, at Memorial Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio, the British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and his pianist sister Isata Kanneh-Mason had closed a concert with Gustav Holst’s carol In the Bleak Midwinter. Then things got very bleak indeed.
The sibling musicians arrived at Cincinnati’s airport early Wednesday morning, only to find that their American Airlines flight to Toronto had been cancelled because of inclement weather.
The cello was made in 1700 by Venetian luthier Matteo Goffriller, is worth millions of dollars and, according to Sheku, cannot be stowed in the baggage hold because of its value and fragility.Sheku Kanneh-Mason/Supplied
They then booked three seats – two for them, one for the cello – on an Air Canada afternoon flight that would get them here just in time for their concert at Koerner Hall. But when it came time to board, an Air Canada gate agent would not allow Kanneh-Mason’s cello on the plane.
With the duo stuck in Cincinnati, an eight-hour drive from Toronto, their concert here was called off.
“It’s very frustrating,” the 25-year-old cellist said from Philadelphia, where the duo performs Friday. “The process of flying with a cello can be complicated, but when the process works, it’s great. When it doesn’t, it can be devastating.”
According to Air Canada’s website, seats can be purchased for musical instruments at a 50-per-cent discount. The airline also suggests confirming such a booking at least 48 hours prior to departure, which wasn’t possible in this case given the last-minute rebooking.
Sheku Kanneh-Mason, a Nottingham native, first gained notice for his performance at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018. He said he spent hours at the airport and on the phone on Wednesday trying to resolve the issue: “They gave us many reasons why the cello couldn’t fly with us, but none of them made any sense.”
According to a statement issued by Air Canada, “It was discovered at check-in that there was no record of an extra seat booked for the cello and there was insufficient time to obtain a ticket and secure the cello properly in the cabin prior to the flight’s departure. We are investigating why the booking for the cello seat was not successfully made.”
According to Kanneh-Mason, at one point he was told there was a weight-balance issue, though the cello in its protective case weighs only eight kilograms. “It fits perfectly on the seat,” he said. According to Air Canada’s website, the airline can accommodate instruments up to 36 kilograms. (While cellos are light, they’re too long for overhead bins.)
The instrument, made in 1700 by Venetian luthier Matteo Goffriller, is worth millions of dollars, according to the cellist, and is on loan to him. Because of its value and fragility, stowing it in the baggage hold wasn’t an option.
The concert’s presenter, the Royal Conservatory of Music, sent out an e-mail blast at 5 p.m. Wednesday, informing ticket holders that the performance had been postponed. The note included a statement from the musicians that said, in part, “We are so sorry to not be meeting you all this evening as we were really looking forward to it.”
Despite the notification, some 200 people turned up at showtime expecting to hear the accomplished twosome, part of a well-known musical family. The conservatory’s executive director of performing arts, Mervon Mehta, was at Koerner Hall’s front doors to give customers the news.
“They either didn’t get the e-mail or we didn’t have any e-mail address for them,” Mehta said. “Fortunately, we had a free student concert in our smaller theatre the same night, so they were able to attend that.”
One couple had driven 20 hours from New Brunswick to attend the tour’s only Canadian stop.
The 1,100 ticket holders now have the option of attending another ticketed concert, waiting for the rescheduled performance by the duo on June 3, or accepting a full refund. So far, only eight people have asked for their money back.
Even if the conservatory can retain its $80,000 in ticket sales, it will be out money, as ushers, bartenders and other staff will be paid for shifts cancelled on such short notice.
The duo’s tour ends with a concert Sunday at New York’s Carnegie Hall.
