Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason has launched her debut solo album 'Fantasie,' which takes listeners on a journey, revealing connections between the sound worlds of different composers—whether they met, influenced each other, or simply existed in resonance. It's her passion to curate programs that span diverse musical landscapes.

From Claude Debussy, Frédéric Chopin, and Alexander Scriabin to Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, and William Grant Still, Jeneba presents a program that is deeply personal to her as an artist. "I've always loved creating complex programs that flow beautifully together, and all these works mean a lot to me," she explains. "By bringing them together for my debut album, I not only reveal more of myself as a musician, but I also share the very different musical styles I grew up with."

Frédéric Chopin is central to Jeneba's repertoire. The album opens with his Second Piano Sonata in B-flat minor, Op. 35, one of his most powerful works. This is followed by the Nocturnes, Op. 27, two contrasting pieces that illustrate Chopin's mastery of evoking complex emotions in music. "These pieces should feel as though they're being improvised," she reveals. "I had to know the notes inside and out so that during performance I could see what would happen next. With Chopin, I don't feel like I'm doing the same thing every time."

From Chopin she floats into the sound world of Claude Debussy and his Preludes—'La fille aux cheveux de lin' from Book 1 and 'Bruyères' from Book 2, both of which evoke delicate, atmospheric worlds where simplicity conceals harmonic depth.

Next, Jeneba pays tribute to the Russian tradition with three works by Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915), who, like Chopin, expanded the expressive possibilities of the piano. Two of his Preludes Op. 11, youthful works, and his Sonata No. 2 offer her a canvas of harmonic boldness and rhythmic freedom. "They both have such a beautiful way of making the piano sing," she remarks about Chopin and Scriabin. "You can hear Chopin's influence in Scriabin's music, because he sometimes adds Chopin-like ornamentations over the melodies. What I also find so beautiful about Scriabin's music is that it's very colorful. When he chooses a particular key, it matters to him that it's that key and no other."

The centerpiece of her program is devoted to three African American composers dear to Jeneba's heart: Florence Price (1887-1953), Margaret Bonds (1913-1972), and William Grant Still (1895-1978). Each was a pioneer in their own way in new forms of musical expression. Jeneba's affinity with Florence Price is clearly palpable and dates back to her BBC Proms debut in 2021 with Price's Piano Concerto. Jeneba notes: "I was very grateful to perform Florence Price's music at the BBC Proms and I'm delighted it's on my album. At many concerts where I've played her Fantasy in E minor, people came up to me afterward and said, 'That was my favorite piece; I really loved that.' I think that's because her music is very vulnerable and touches the heart directly. She has such a distinctive style that many people can relate to. Perhaps it's the passion and her direct connection with the spirituals she uses that makes her music so emotional and accessible."

'Troubled Water' by Margaret Bonds—a student and friend of Florence Price, a great advocate of her music, and who performed Price's Concerto at its 1934 premiere—is based on the spiritual 'Wade in the Water' and combines syncopation, jazz influences, and virtuosic demands. "The spiritual in 'Troubled Water' is 'Wade in the Water,' and I grew up with that as a small child. It's wonderful to have a piece where you can really hear the pianistic side of Margaret Bonds' playing and how she wove the spiritual into it. There's a sense of rhythm that runs throughout the piece, a constant pulse under the spiritual. For me, it was an easy choice to put her 'Troubled Water' on my debut album," says Jeneba, emphasizing the rhythmic intensity Bonds brings to her work.

William Grant Still's 'Summerland' is a vision of paradise and reminds Jeneba of a similar musical world to Debussy's Preludes. It's a delicate, ascending hymn to transcendence and forms the centerpiece of his 'Three Visions.' "I hear many similarities between Still and Debussy," she explains. "I think they inhabit a similar sound world. 'Summerland' is very beautiful and is about a soul reaching heaven, and you definitely hear that in the music. Like Debussy's Preludes, it's very serene, but also harmonically complex. When you listen to it, you're swept along. It's so beautiful and vivid, but at the same time delicate and intimate."

Jeneba, the second youngest of the extraordinarily musical Kanneh-Mason family, knows instinctively at age 22 who she is as a musician. "We're a very close-knit family, but we all have our own personalities," she explains. "We constantly influence each other and I've learned so much from my siblings—and still am. We all have our own voice, but can always turn to each other for support. Isata is six years older than me and she taught me a lot when I was younger. She's always been an enormous source of inspiration for me and she's already released many albums, so I feel like I'm following in her footsteps."

With this album, Jeneba Kanneh-Mason proves herself to be a consummate pianist who treads in the footsteps of the great pianists of 'then' and 'now' in her own way. The album throughout is characterized by soft sonorities alternating with power, timid playing, sometimes almost fearless, with tempos never rushed and never indulging in excessive virtuosic display. In short, entirely convincing throughout, faithful to the score and the soul of each work. We want to hear much more from her.

‘'Fantasie' was internationally released by Sony Classical on March 7, 2025Works by: Claude Debussy (1862-1918), Frederic Chopin (1810-1849), Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915), Florence Price (1887-1953), Margaret Bonds (1913-1972), William Grant Still (1895-1978).