If you tuned in to the royal wedding in the spring, you may recall an intermission during which a young musician performed three pieces on the cello. Despite being a teenager, he caught the attention of millions of people across the globe, and was subsequently propelled onto the world stage.

The cellist at the wedding was 19-year-old Sheku Kanneh-Mason. And, although he said he does not usually get nervous before performances, playing in front of the royal family was a bit different. “Obviously this was a performance very different to what I’m used to, but still I would say I was more excited than nervous,” he stated in an interview with NPR.

In his case, being a teenager was not an impediment to being selected to perform before Britain’s royal family. Instead, his dedication to practicing and his passion for music allowed him to succeed beyond his expectations.

Sheku grew up in a musical family, and began taking cello lessons when he was 6 years old. He has seven siblings, five of whom are also accomplished instrumentalists. He has had many opportunities to perform with his siblings, including on the television show Britain’s Got Talent in 2015.

In the NPR interview, the teen spoke of his passion for performing: “I have five sisters and one brother who all play different instruments…and we do get the chance in different combinations to play together a lot—which I always enjoy—it means that we get a chance to share our musical ideas and also to just explore music together, which I find one of the most exciting things.”

The cellist first caught the attention of the royals during a charity concert in 2017, and soon after received a phone call.

The young man recalled to The Peterborough Examiner that after the phone call he felt “honoured and excited” for the opportunity to perform—an honor not typically extended to classical musicians, let alone teenagers.

Prior to this event, Sheku enjoyed a notable string of successes. In 2016, he won the BBC’s Young Musician of the Year contest. Later that same year, he was the subject of a documentary titled “Young, Gifted and Classical: The Making of a Maestro.”

The young musician released an album in January 2018 called Inspiration, which after his appearance at the royal wedding took off to become “the biggest-selling British debut of the year to date,” reaching number one on the UK classical albums chart.

Despite his enormous success at a young age, Sheku has not retired from learning. He currently studies full-time at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and has told RadioTimes that he will always focus “on developing as a musician. Hopefully, by becoming the best cellist I can, I’ll also inspire other people to enjoy classical music and maybe even do what I do.”