Songs Without Words Jeneba Kanneh-Mason

• Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809 - 1847): Lieder ohne Worte V, op. 62:
• 1 Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Lieder ohne Worte V, op. 62: I. Andante espressivo 01:54
• Florence Price (1887 - 1953): Song Without Words in A Major:
• 2 Price: Song Without Words in A Major 03:01
• Margaret Bonds (1913 - 1972): Spiritual Suite:
• 3 Bonds: Spiritual Suite: II. The Bells 04:07
• Florence Price: Song Without Words in G Major ("Pleading"):
• 4 Price: Song Without Words in G Major ("Pleading") 03:19
• Nina Simone (1933 - 2003), Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 - 1921): Theme from Samson and Delilah (arr. Nina Simone):
• 5 Simone, Saint-Saëns: Theme from Samson and Delilah (arr. Nina Simone) 05:06
• Total Runtime 17:27

Info for Songs Without Words

Songs Without Words was thoughtfully curated by the artist, the EP brings together music by Felix Mendelssohn, Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, Camille Saint-Saëns and Nina Simone, continuing Jeneba's passion for championing overlooked voices and tracing the evolution of the Songs Without Words tradition across generations, musical styles and genres.

Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, of whom Gramophone wrote: “her future will surely be dazzling” and who impressed BBC Music Magazine with her “sparkle and self-possession”, has chosen a remarkable piece as the first single from this EP. In a tribute to the legendary pianist, singer, songwriter and activist, Nina Simone (1933-2003), Jeneba performs Saint-Saëns’ (1835-1921) popular aria ‘Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix’ (‘Softly awakes my heart’) from his opera ‘Samson and Delilah’, Op. 67. Nina Simone famously performed her own arrangement of this work as a solo piano piece during her 1963 debut solo concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall, enriching the piece with embellishments and improvisatory flourishes. Jeneba honours this seminal artist with a transcription of that singular 1963 live performance.

Of this first single, Jeneba Kanneh-Mason remarks, "I've always loved Nina Simone, and when I discovered her solo piano version of Saint-Saëns' 'Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix', I was completely captivated. I love the freedom and individuality she brings to the music, while never losing sight of the original melody. Including a transcription of her performance on this EP felt like a natural way to celebrate her artistry alongside the more traditional Songs Without Words, bringing together so many of the musical worlds that inspire me."

To acknowledge the origins of the genre Songs Without Words, the theme of her forthcoming EP, Jeneba Kanneh-Mason has chosen Felix Mendelssohn’s Song Without Words in G major, Op. 62 No. 1 Andante espressivo. Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) and his sister, Fanny Hensel Mendelssohn (1805-1847), were among the first composers to write ‘Lieder ohne Worte’, Felix Mendelssohn writing eight volumes of six songs, which became hugely popular.

Continuing her commitment to championing music by black women composers and bringing their often-overlooked repertoire to a wider audience, Jeneba returns to African American composers, Florence Price (1887-1953) and Margaret Bonds (1913-1972), both of whom were featured on her debut album, ‘Fantasie’. For Songs Without Words, she has chosen two rarely recorded works by Price: Song Without Words in G major ‘Pleading’ (c. 1928) and the lyrical yet dramatic Song Without Words in A major (1932). These sit alongside Bonds' The Bells, the second movement from her ‘Spiritual Suite for Piano’ and based on the spiritual Peter, Go Ring Dem Bells, which Bonds developed into an elaborate piano piece.

Having made her mark in March 2025 with her debut album on Sony Classical, Fantasie, featuring works by Frederic Chopin, Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, William Grant Still, Claude Debussy and Alexander Scriabin, of which International Piano magazine noted “…This is a debut recording of exceptional bravura and insight… Already she compels attention”, this much in demand young artist and member of the supremely talented Kanneh-Mason family of musicians, followed it in December 2025 with an exceptionally fine self-curated EP ‘Jane Austen’s Piano’, exploring the musical world of fellow pianist and world-famous author, Jane Austen, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of her favourite writer’s birth.

Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, piano

Jeneba Kanneh-Mason
is already captivating audiences with her “maturity in performance and interpretation […], the former an uncanny phenomenon” (Fraser). The third of the Kanneh-Mason clan to establish herself as a soloist, Jeneba recently made her BBC Proms debut with the Chineke! Orchestra, performing the Florence Price Concerto and was heralded by the press as “demonstrating musical insight, technical acuity, and an engaging performing persona” (Music OMH).

Jeneba was a Keyboard Category Finalist in BBC Young Musician 2018, winner of the Murs du Son Prize at the Lagny-Sur-Marne International Piano Competition in France, 2014, and The Nottingham Young Musician 2013. She was also winner of the Iris Dyer Piano Prize at The Royal Academy of Music, Junior Academy, where she studied with Patsy Toh.

Recent and forthcoming highlights include debuts with the Philharmonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, and the Sinfonia Viva for the New Year Gala. She also undertook an extensive tour with Chineke! across Europe in November 2022 for the Price Concerto, and recorded with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. An avid recital performer, Jeneba will also be making solo debuts at the Zurich Tonhalle, London Wigmore Hall, Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, amongst others, as well as the Lenzburgiade, Rheingau, Cheltenham, Bradfield and Lamberhurst festivals. In 2022, Jeneba also embarked on tours of Australia, USA, Antigua and Barbuda with the Kanneh-Masons. Jeneba was named one of Classic FM’s ‘Rising Stars’ and appeared on Julian Lloyd Webber’s radio series in 2021. She has also been featured on several television and radio programmes, including Radio 3, In Tune, The BAFTAs, The Royal Variety Performance, the documentary for BBC4, Young, Gifted and Classical, and the Imagine documentary for BBC1, This House is Full of Music. In 2023 She co-presented a radio programme on Classic FM entitled The Kanneh-Mason Family Takeover.

She has recorded for the album, Carnival, with Decca Classics.

Jeneba holds the Victoria Robey Scholarship to The Royal College of Music, studying piano with Vanessa Latarche. She is grateful to Lady Robey, The Nottingham Soroptimist Trust and to The Nottingham Education Trust.

This album contains no booklet.