London
CNN
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Famous British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Masonwho became a household name after performing at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, has said he had to cancel a concert in Canada after the country’s largest airline denied his pre-booked seat to his cello.

Kanneh-Mason is currently on a winter tour of North America with her sister, pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason, and the pair were scheduled to perform in Toronto on Wednesday.

“We were deeply sorry not to be able to perform for you at Koerner Hall last night. We had a serious flight accident and tried our best to reach you,” the duo told fans in Canada’s biggest city in a joint statement posted on social media on Thursday.

“First we had delays, then a cancellation, and the day ended with us being denied boarding with a cello – even though we had a confirmed seat for it – on a new, final flight to Toronto. After nine anxious hours at the airport, we realized that our travel would not be possible,” the statement continued.

“We can only dream of a time when all airlines have a standardized, global and carefully considered approach to the carriage of valuable instruments booked to travel in the cabin,” they added.

CNN has reached out to Air Canada for comment.

According to his websiteKanneh-Mason’s cello, which is on loan to him indefinitely, was made in 1700 by the famous Venetian luthier Matteo Goffriller. It is worth 3 million euros ($3.15 million), according to a short film about the instrument.

The siblings, who said they are working to secure a new concert date for next year, tagged Air Canada’s social handle in the post.

Air Canada has its say website that it allows passengers to purchase a seat for their musical instrument as long as it does not exceed 162.5 centimeters (64 inches) in height/length or 36 kilograms (80 pounds) in weight. However, it warns that the number of instruments each flight can receive is limited.

“This is a frequent and extremely frustrating experience for Sheku and many professional musicians with instruments who need to travel in the cabin of an airplane,” Kanneh-Mason’s management at EMM Ltd/IMG Artists said in a statement to CNN Friday.

“It appears that we can arrange and provide all the necessary tickets, required cell bookings, visas, proof of commitment and yet there is too regularly an inconsistency of experience and training with booking systems and airport ground staff,” it continued.

“We would welcome a constructive discussion with the airline industry body. Although Air Canada has now at least refunded all tickets, we have yet to receive any form of apology for their mistake which resulted in over a thousand people having their concert tickets canceled that night,” it added .

Kanneh-Mason started playing the cello at the age of six and rose to fame after giving a mesmerizing performance at Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018. He was 19 years old at the time.

Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason are just two of seven musical siblings from Nottingham, England who play piano, cello or violin.