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British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason won the prestigious BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in 2016 when he was just 17 years old, performing Shostakovich's fiendish Cello Concerto No. 1. The first Black musician to win the competition in its 38-year history, Kanneh-Mason was born and raised in a suburb of Nottingham, England. The third of seven siblings who all turned out to be exceptionally musically talented, he was inspired initially by his eldest sister Isata, who showed an early aptitude for the piano and was accepted at the age of eight into the Royal Academy of Music's junior department. Following in her footsteps, Sheku took up the cello at the age of six, and, aged nine, won a scholarship to also attend the Royal Academy. He joined Chineke, Europe's first BAME (Black and minority ethnic) classical orchestra, and, together with Isata and his violinist brother Braimah, formed the Kanneh-Mason Trio, appearing in 2015 on Britain's Got Talent. His experience on the show prepared him for Young Musician's relatively sedate televised segments. After winning Young Musician, where his playing immediately drew comparisons with Jacqueline du Pré, he was signed by Decca. His 2018 debut album Inspiration featured the Shostakovich concerto along with other classical pieces and his own versions of songs by Bob Marley and Leonard Cohen. It became the first debut album by a Young Musician winner to chart, entering the U.K. pop rankings at number 18. That same spring, he and an orchestra performed for guests at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle while the couple signed the register. ~ John D. Buchanan

Saxophone prodigy Jess Gillam's story is a litany of firsts: she was the first saxophonist to reach the final of BBC Young Musician of the Year; the youngest-ever female performer at the Last Night of the Proms; the first saxophonist to sign to Decca Classics; and her first album, Rise, debuted at number one on the U.K. classical chart, when she was just 20 years old.

Born on May 24, 1998, Gillam was brought up in a music-loving family in the picturesque market town of Ulverston in Cumbria, in England's Lake District. Her family ran a tearoom, where she sometimes waitressed as a child. Gillam began to play saxophone at age seven, initially in a samba-inspired carnival band. She discovered classical music at age 11 when she saw a saxophone quartet play, and, amazed at the instrument's range, determined that she would pursue it. After she took lessons at a local high school, her raw talent saw her accepted into the Junior Royal Northern College of Music when she was 13. Three years later, she began studies with John Harle, who became her mentor.

In 2016, Gillam's big break came when she reached the final of the prestigious BBC Young Musician of the Year competition, becoming the first saxophonist ever to do so and the first to win the woodwind category. From then on, things started to happen rapidly: she made her Proms debut in 2017, played the Last Night in 2018, and performed at the BAFTAs in 2019. Her youth, fresh outlook, and funky dress sense seemed to see her positioned as a sort of 21st century answer to violinist Nigel Kennedy, who had shaken up the fusty classical world in the '80s with his punkish hair and loud suits.

Her debut album, Rise, issued by Decca in 2019, featured a selection of classical repertoire, film score pieces, and pop transcriptions, and went immediately to the top of the U.K. classical chart. In addition to performing, Gillam was also a teacher and a vocal activist against government cuts to music tuition. From the age of 12, she organized her own concert series in her hometown, which attracted international stars like Snake Davis, Courtney Pine, and Tommy Smith. Following the release of her album, it was announced that Gillam would become the youngest-ever presenter on the classical-oriented BBC Radio 3, as it attempted to capitalize on its growing youth listenership. ~ John D. Buchanan