AWARD-WINNING cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason will perform at the Corn Exchange in Dorchester on Sunday, November 17, as part of a worldwide tour.

Sheku will be performing tracks from his new album, Elgar, a selection of works anchored around Elgar's Cello Concerto. Arguably the best-known work in the classical canon written for solo cello, the concerto celebrated its 100th anniversary this month.

Recorded at the famous Abbey Road Studios with the London Symphony Orchestra, and conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, the album demonstrates the continually evolving talent of the 20-year-old musician, who last year performed at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

"It's how I feel about the music that really motivates me to work and develop my own ideas," Sheku, originally from Nottingham, says. "That's what keeps me going. All the pieces in Elgar are connected, either exercising similar emotions to the Cello Concerto, or written around the same time."

Recalling his earliest encounters with the iconic work, Sheku says the album "directly connected with my emotions" at the age of eight or nine.

Elgar, released on Decca Classics, contains works by the European composers Julius Klengel, Gabriel Fauré and the Swiss-born Ernst Block, as well as Simon Parkin's brand new arrangements of Scarborough Fair, and Spring Song by English composer Frank Bridge.

Sheku won BBC Young Musician at the age of 17, performing two years later at the Royal Wedding watched by three billion people around the world.

In 2018, he released his debut album Inspiration, which topped the Classical Album Chart and earned Sheku a BRIT Certified Breakthrough Award. With more than 60 million streams, the young cellist has since been named one of TIME Magazine's Next Generation Leaders, highlighting his ability to cross musical boundaries and draw new audiences into the world of the classical genre.

The provision of music education is a topic close to Sheku's heart, and he works as a junior ambassador for inner-city music charity London Music Masters. He was also recently presented with the 2019 PPL Classical Award at the O2 Silver Clef Awards, held on behalf of music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins.

Sheku continues to attend the Royal Academy of Music alongside his brother and two sisters.