A pair of classical musicians, including famed British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, cancelled a sold-out show in Toronto after Air Canada refused to allow them to board their flight with a cello, even though they’d purchased a seat for the instrument.
Kanneh-Mason and his pianist sister Isata were scheduled to perform at Koerner Hall on Wednesday, but had to cancel last minute, the pair shared in an Instagram post.
“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,” they wrote.
Although they didn’t specify the airline responsible in their statement, the post included a hashtag for Air Canada and also tagged Air Canada’s account.
Kanneh-Mason hit the spotlight in 2018 when he played the cello during the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Windsor Castle.
A spokesperson for Air Canada told CBC News in an email that the airline has a policy of accepting cellos in the cabin when a separate seat has been booked.
“In this case, the customers made a last-minute booking due to their original flight on another airline being cancelled,” the spokesperson said. “We are still reviewing what happened including why the cello was not successfully rebooked.”
The cello in question is more than 300 years old, constructed around 1700 by famous luthier Matteo Goffriller. According to a short film about the instrument, it’s worth more than three million euros, about $4.5 million Cdn.
The cello that Sheku Kanneh-Mason uses is more than 300 years and is on indefinite loan to the musician. (Chris O’Donovan)
Air Canada’s policy states that an extra seat must be purchased for a musical instrument that doesn’t fit in the overhead bin or under the seat, and that the instrument must not exceed 162.5 centimetres in height or length or 36 kilograms in weight. It also states that “the number of musical instruments that can be accommodated on each flight is limited.”
The siblings, who hail from a family of musicians, urged airlines to come up with clearer policies for musical instruments.
“We can only dream of a time when all airlines have a standardized, global and carefully considered approach to the carriage of precious instruments that are booked to travel in the cabin,” they wrote.
“In the meantime, we are working hard to find a new date to come to Toronto next year and we both look forward to seeing you then.”