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00:00Tonight, 60 Minutes reaches for a new high with a breathtaking climb to base camp on Mount Everest.
00:09I am not looking down. Don't talk.
00:12Oh, God. It's windy. I do not like this at all.
00:16We hiked 10 days into thin air.
00:19Welcome to Everest Base Camp.
00:21Our guides were the Sherpas who risked their lives to assist climbers.
00:25We found there's little margin for error on the journey to Everest.
00:32This is the setting that produced what is surely the most statistically improbable story in classical music history.
00:41Seven siblings, each a virtuoso by almost any definition.
00:46They have performed at the world's great concert halls, recorded chart-topping albums, won prestigious awards.
00:53Meet the Connie Masons.
00:56I'm Leslie Stahl.
01:20I'm Scott Pelley.
01:21I'm Anderson Cooper.
01:22I'm Sharon Alfonsi.
01:23I'm John Wertheim.
01:24I'm Cecilia Vega.
01:26I'm Nora O'Donnell.
01:27I'm Bill Whitaker.
01:29Those stories end in our last minute, an 18-letter milestone, tonight on 60 Minutes.
01:36Everest, Earth's highest mountain needs no introduction.
01:49At 29,032 feet, it sits not only at the top of the world, but at the top of countless bucket lists.
01:5540,000 people trekked to Everest base camp in Nepal every year.
02:01This past spring, we joined them, hiking for 10 days, sometimes on all fours, often barely breathing.
02:08And we could not have done it without the Sherpas.
02:11Indigenous to the Everest region, Sherpa is an ethnic group, a last name, and a job description.
02:18Often cast as superhuman, they are the porters and guides who risk their lives to help others reach the summit with little recognition.
02:26Our guide, Nima Rinji Sherpa, is part of a new generation hoping to change that.
02:39High in the heart of the Himalayas sits Lukla, one of the most dangerous airports in the world.
02:45You see how short that is?
02:47It's incredible.
02:48It doesn't look very safe.
02:50Where the short, unforgiving runway is carved into the edge of a cliff.
02:55There is no margin for error.
03:00Bravo, bravo.
03:01Well done.
03:02Yes.
03:03It is the start of what will be a 10-day trek to base camp at 17,598 feet elevation.
03:16I mean, that's crazy.
03:19We meet our porters.
03:24Who strap 800 pounds of our camera gear to their backs and heads before setting off on the trail.
03:31I guess you're always training.
03:34Nima Rinji Sherpa, the youngest person to summit the world's 14 highest mountains, has trekked up this mountain more times than he can count.
03:43A veteran who is just 19.
03:50Watch yourself.
03:51We begin our journey dodging animals at 9,337 feet.
03:58Prayer wheels, believed to send blessings with every turn, mark the way.
04:05Out here, you learn the mountain etiquette quickly.
04:08When you hear the warning bells, you get out of the way fast.
04:13Hoarders, often overloaded with almost twice their body weight, rule the fast lane.
04:25All in, it will be a 50-mile trek and 8,261-foot climb to Everest Base Camp, an ungraceful uphill grind.
04:38We've spent months training for it, studied the route, and yet nothing prepares you for this.
04:48Just look down and finish.
04:49No, I am not looking down.
04:50Don't talk.
04:51Oh, God.
04:52Ah, it's windy.
04:53I do not like this at all.
04:57Another suspension bridge dangles 45 stories above a roaring gorge below.
05:04You can't be scared of anything if you do what you do.
05:07Of course, you are scared, but you have to balance it in a way that you can be confident, you know, when you do things.
05:13What do you tell yourself when you get scared?
05:15Oh, I'm just trying to calm myself down and just realize who I am.
05:22With every step, we move deeper into Sherpa country and closer to the shadow of Everest.
05:29Is there a spiritual connection to Mount Everest?
05:32I think if there is no Everest, we'll still be farming.
05:35We'll still be looking after the yaks, the goats.
05:37And the mountain has given us, like, a meaning to life, I think, yeah.
05:42Mount Everest has given the Sherpa people a meaning.
05:44Yeah.
05:45Almost 150,000 Sherpas live in Nepal, less than 1% of the country's population.
05:51Renowned for their endurance, they thrive where oxygen is scarce.
05:56Among them, one name rises above all.
06:00Did you grow up learning about Tenzing Norgay?
06:03Yes, we had to learn about him.
06:05Nepalese guide Tenzing Norgay.
06:07In 1953, Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa from Nepal, guided Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand on the first-ever summit of Everest.
06:16It was among the most defining moments of the 20th century.
06:21And yet, while it cemented Hillary in history, Norgay's contribution was largely overlooked.
06:27What does he mean to the Sherpa people?
06:29I think it was because of him, like, who made the Sherpa a brand today.
06:34And for me, he was always a very big motivation just to understand that, OK, maybe we can also be someone like him.
06:43Today, Nima is chasing the recognition that once eluded his idol.
06:50It doesn't hurt that he comes from mountaineering royalty.
06:54His dad holds the record as the youngest person to summit Everest without supplemental oxygen.
06:59His uncles were the first brothers to conquer the world's 14 highest mountains.
07:05We are in good hands as we arrive into Namche at 11,300 feet.
07:12Here, we meet Nima's uncle, Nima Sherpa, a former yak farmer who started as a porter, earning a dollar a day carrying loads for foreigners.
07:23I come to Kathmandu, carry the lot by porter, 30 kg, 70 kg.
07:29I show off the people. I'm strong. I carry, like, 90 kg, too.
07:35Almost 200 pounds.
07:37He climbed, literally, to the ranks of Sherpa guide, a top job reserved for the strongest and most skilled.
07:44Every step is do and die. Every step is maybe we are alive or not alive, you know?
07:50Every step is that dangerous?
07:52Yeah, it's dangerous. Sometimes it's nighttime work, sometimes it's avalanche, but our goal is summit.
07:59In 2009, Nima and his brothers started their own company, Seven Summit Treks, responsible for nearly a third of all Everest expeditions.
08:09Now, they want to prove that Sherpas are more than indispensable guides to Western climbers,
08:15and they are banking on Nima to show that Sherpas can be climbing stars, too.
08:21We're almost near Kampuan now.
08:26At 16, while most teenagers his age were in a classroom, Nima was doing this, climbing into what's known as the death zone.
08:35That's when the altitude is above 26,000 feet, and the body's organs begin to shut down minute by minute.
08:42For his first summit in 2022, Nima climbed and recorded on his way up Nepal's Mt. Manaslu.
08:52So that first climb, how hard was it?
08:55Um, yes, it was hard.
08:56Don't say easy.
08:57It was hard.
08:58But every second I was excited because I never knew what I was going to see after 10 meters.
09:04Of course, the main problem that I had was I had a lot of muscle cramps.
09:07And I think it's mostly because I was too young for my age to start at that time.
09:11I was sleeping at night. I had some pain in my lungs, some pain in my heart.
09:16But for some reason, I don't know why, I kept wanting to go up.
09:20And I never felt like I was going to not summit.
09:24Even in the face of avalanches and serious injuries, it took Nima just two years to scale all of the world's 14 tallest mountains.
09:34The previous record holder did it in nine years.
09:38What does it take to do this?
09:40So there has to be a lot of meaning. Why do you want to do it?
09:46Because many times the mountains will start to question you why you are here.
09:50The mountains question you.
09:52The mountains question you because when you go to Everest, you can feel the energy that you are so small.
09:56At that time, you have to have a really, like an iron heart to know why you are here.
10:02You cannot say I'm just here for fun. That's the worst thing that you can convince yourself.
10:06So why are you there?
10:08I was on a mission to finish all the 14 and I knew I belonged in this industry.
10:13And so everyone has their own reason and the reason has to be really big that you don't give up, you know.
10:19So getting the crampons ready.
10:21Despite the achievement, big brands never offered endorsements the way they have for Western mountaineers who reach summits.
10:29Do you think the fact that you haven't received any of those endorsements has to do with where you're coming from?
10:36Maybe yes, because of that. But I know my time is going to come. I don't want to rush.
10:42It sounds like the same deliberate, considered approach you take to those mountains.
10:49The one you've taught us walking up these mountains.
10:52Yes.
10:53Wow, steep. Holy smokes.
10:57By day five, it is a battle between our lungs and gravity.
11:02It's me feeling in your legs.
11:04Mm-hmm.
11:05You said push off the poles, right?
11:07You're not out of breath, I am.
11:11Oh.
11:12Whew.
11:14We are at 13,500 feet elevation.
11:20F*** me.
11:22At this point, our inner thoughts are no longer being held in.
11:27This is really hard.
11:28I need to take, they can catch me on the camera taking a break, I don't care.
11:34It just looks close, but there's another.
11:36More stairs.
11:38I have to emotionally prepare.
11:40Whew.
11:45Gets a lot harder?
11:46Final way, 240.
11:50Steep.
11:51Very steep.
11:52You're used to it.
11:54Uh-huh.
11:55After eight hours of trekking, we arrive in Portse.
12:01The remote village where Nima trained to become a mountaineer.
12:05Hello.
12:06How about this day?
12:08We are welcomed with ceremonial scarves, a symbol of honor and respect.
12:14And greeted by Nima's mentor, Conrad Anker, one of America's top mountaineers,
12:19who returns to this village each year.
12:22What a beautiful home you have.
12:24Wow.
12:25It's just breathtaking, literally breathtaking.
12:29Warm up on this wall here.
12:31Anker opened the Khumbu Climbing Center in Portse in 2003 to provide Sherpas with specialized technical training to improve safety on high-altitude expeditions.
12:44Smooth technique.
12:45Nima graduated top of his class.
12:48We would show up in fancy gear and all the best stuff, and we would see our staff there with worn-out gear or not the proper gear, and then not having the technical knowledge.
13:00And for me, it was eye-opening.
13:02Is there an inequity between Western climbers and Nepalese climbers?
13:08Oh, yeah.
13:09It's not just sponsors.
13:11It's the value of what they do.
13:13I mean, a Western climber dies, and the community rallies up, and there's fundraising.
13:18And yet, for the Nepali climbers, it's not recognized in that same sense.
13:25After a night in a tea house, we leave Portse behind.
13:31Our porters are already lined up the mountainside as we begin the push toward 14,500 feet.
13:41Taller than most mountains in the United States.
13:53We are just 10 miles now from Everest Base Camp.
13:58But we cannot go on without a stop that has become tradition for Nima before he summits.
14:06A 600-year-old Buddhist monastery where we receive a blessing meant to keep us safe.
14:23The monks tie a thin cord around our neck, a simple thread to protect us on the mountain.
14:31We are ready for Everest.
14:35As we come back, the big business of Base Camp and the dangerous journey to the summit.
14:48Once viewed as a near-impossible feat in the most brutal conditions achieved only by the most daring,
14:54climbing Mount Everest has shifted from a symbol of ultimate adventure
14:58to something mere mortals can accomplish and take a summit selfie to prove it.
15:03Today, Everest is a booming multi-million dollar high-altitude industry with guided climbs fetching six-figure sums.
15:11Base Camp has become a tourist destination as we learned when we made the trek in May.
15:16The commercialization has brought wealth and opportunity to the Sherpas of Nepal,
15:21but also pressure as they carry the weight of the climbing season.
15:33It is peak Everest season, that narrow window in May when the weather holds just long enough for climbers to make their move up to the top of the world.
15:43We have been walking for eight days.
15:47So pretty.
15:48And are now crossing a critical threshold when the body begins to falter.
15:53As we gain altitude, every breath delivers less oxygen.
16:00In extreme cases, when the brain swells and lungs fill with fluid, severe altitude sickness can be fatal.
16:12It's why we don't take the easy way up in a helicopter.
16:15The body needs the slow ascent to acclimatize.
16:19These are the memorials, are right here?
16:22Uh-huh.
16:23For all the climbers who passed away.
16:28The hillside ahead is covered in memorials.
16:31This one is from 2014 Avalanche.
16:34For those who never made it back from Everest summit.
16:38One in three deaths on Everest is a Sherpa.
16:41In 2023 alone, 18 people died, the most in one year.
16:46So high up, their bodies are almost impossible to recover.
16:52Our guide, Nima Rinji Sherpa, the youngest climber to summit the world's 14 highest mountains, knows this all too well.
17:01It seems like death is inevitable in what you do.
17:06I've seen many people pass away.
17:09And, yeah, it's always there.
17:12But you believe that you're not going to die.
17:15You use death almost as a motivator?
17:18Mm-hmm.
17:19You have to be more careful when you're in the mountains.
17:21Because every time you go, you are so energized and you feel like nothing is going to happen to you.
17:26And then when you see someone pass away, then you feel like, okay, this is real.
17:33Final day of the trek.
17:35Yeah, we did really well so far.
17:36I'm very emotional.
17:37I'm about to cry.
17:38But...
17:39Don't say that.
17:40Okay.
17:41Today is the first time we'll be touching 5,000 meters.
17:4416,404 feet to be exact.
17:48Which country are you from?
17:50From Canada.
17:51Even up here in this glacial valley...
17:54You're a hero.
17:56...Nima is a celebrity.
17:58This high up, besides the tourists, it's you, the yaks, and the altitude that crushes your chest.
18:11Took me 12 days to get up this hill.
18:13We're mere hours from base camp.
18:16It's gotten much colder.
18:19Tonight, maybe minus 15?
18:22Minus 18?
18:23Maybe.
18:24That's brutal.
18:26Our porters who carried all our gear up this mountain have already made it to base camp and are heading back down and onto their next job.
18:37Look at them.
18:38They're running down the mountain.
18:39I'm barely making it up and they're coming back down already.
18:41This is amazing.
18:43This is the final approach.
18:46We're really almost there now.
18:49Oh, my God.
18:51Less a trail than a passage to where the high Himalaya begins.
18:56Just so you can see, base camp.
18:59There it is.
19:01We did it.
19:02Uh-huh.
19:03After 10 days of climbing, we catch our first glimpse of Everest base camp.
19:10It sits on top of constantly shifting and melting ice.
19:17Wow.
19:18Incredible.
19:19Oh!
19:20Oops.
19:21What is that?
19:22The rock is falling off.
19:24The world's highest glacier, the Khumbu Glacier.
19:27Freezing.
19:28Nose feels like it's going to fall off.
19:31This is where you try to not fall in the glacier lake.
19:36Every rock counts.
19:39Here at 17,600 feet above sea level, every breath delivers only half the oxygen.
19:47It's like breathing through a straw.
19:52We're so close.
19:54Our lips are blue, a sign that we are not getting enough oxygen.
19:59It's like an Instagram photo shoot.
20:01Yes.
20:02Famous stone.
20:03Wow.
20:04But we've made it.
20:06Welcome to Everest base camp.
20:08Uh-huh.
20:09I was like, am I going to make this?
20:14Do I need a helicopter?
20:16So nice to see you.
20:20You're welcome.
20:21Namaste.
20:23We're officially here now.
20:24Oh, my goodness.
20:26From a few dozen successful summits in the early 1980s to a near record, almost 500 climbing
20:33permits issued this season, Everest has never been more commercialized.
20:40And climbers go to new extremes to stand out, such as the British team who this season summited
20:47Everest in less than a week by using xenon gas to boost oxygen levels in their blood.
20:53Has tourism changed Everest for better or worse?
20:57For Nepal, of course, Everest has been a blessing.
21:00For Sherpas, for the country, the biggest revenue source.
21:04It's a big part of your family's livelihood.
21:07You have to understand that it's not only us who is getting business, but the taxi driver, the helipilot, the lodges, the porters, the whole economy is sustaining.
21:16You know, so you cannot just say that only we are profiting, so everyone is profiting from this.
21:20Nima Sherpa, our inspiration.
21:22Thank you, guys.
21:23Commercial expeditions have transformed Everest into high-altitude luxury.
21:32Today, some climbers pay up to $180,000 for premium packages that come with private chefs, a movie theater, and espresso machines.
21:51For better or worse, this is Everest now.
21:54And starting in 2013, Nima's father, Tashi Lakpa Sherpa, helped build it, turning an isolated mountainside into an economy.
22:04What was once a weeks-long, bone-chilling wait at base camp for a summit window, that lull in the weather when it's safe to attempt a move to the top, can now feel like summer camp on a glacier.
22:21Hola.
22:22Small luxuries aside, two nights here test every ounce of resilience.
22:31Breathing, eating and sleeping are struggles.
22:36And the bathroom is a bed of rocks in a flapping tent.
22:41The wind is brutal, the cold piercing, and the terrain offers no shelter from the elements.
22:48Camp 2, this is Camp 2, 6,500 meters.
22:52As always, it's the Sherpas who shoulder the burden, especially on expeditions that extend beyond ours and push up to higher camps and ultimately to the summit, a journey that can take weeks.
23:05A breeze.
23:06Through it, they navigate Everest's deadliest terrain, the Kumbu Icefall.
23:15A maze of shifting towers of ice and bottomless crevasses, it's the elite Sherpas, called Icefall Doctors, who go in first.
23:26They build the route with ladders lashed together over sheer drops.
23:33Every step is a gamble.
23:38Sherpas cross far more than any climber, risking everything for someone else's summit.
23:46To make it safer, innovation is taking flight.
23:52For the first time, expedition companies, including seven summit treks, are using drones to ferry loads in high altitudes.
24:02The drones are flying around as we speak right now.
24:04The drones are now helping the icefall doctors.
24:07They're helping to take the ladders, the ropes, and at the same time, the drones are helping to bring down all the trash and many things.
24:15The hope is that the new technology might reduce the number of fatal accidents.
24:21So these are jobs that Sherpas would have done in the past.
24:24The job is not going away.
24:25It's just making the job easier and safer and faster.
24:28So if it takes a porter hours to climb from base camp to camp one, how quickly can a drone do it?
24:36Three minutes.
24:37Three minutes?
24:38Three and a half minutes, yeah.
24:40Wow.
24:41Inexperience can be deadly, especially at the top of the world's highest mountain.
24:52In the death zone, where every minute counts, one stalled climber can trap dozens behind them for hours, turning Everest into the world's highest traffic jam.
25:08When the inevitable rescue is needed, it's Simone Moro who gets the call.
25:15The Italian has been flying helicopters for Nima's family and climbing this mountain for years.
25:23In April, he pulled off this dangerous rescue mission.
25:28So high up, there was barely enough air to keep the rotor blades spinning.
25:34You can't imagine how many people they come up, some with not enough acclimatization, some other with not enough preparation.
25:41And they start to feel bad.
25:45And if I don't go and pick them and quickly took them down, they die for pulmonary edema, selvar edema.
25:52And this happens quite often, even in the night, while they are sleeping in the lodge.
25:56In the morning, they go, they try to wake up, they are dead.
25:59Even for those who survive the night, another danger often looms.
26:05Whoa!
26:07This one is big.
26:09This avalanche stopped just short of our tents, one of many that followed a 5.5 magnitude earthquake when we were on the mountain.
26:18For sure, this is an extra stress that you feel it because...
26:22Oh, we felt the stress. I heard the avalanche all night.
26:24But honestly, the base camp for such kind of danger, you have a higher danger here than not higher.
26:31I'm glad you're telling me this on our final day as we're about to leave.
26:34It was intentional that we didn't tell you anything.
26:39When he's not flying around the mountain, Moro, one of the world's top climbers, is scaling them.
26:46And now, he's taking Nima with him.
26:49Together, they are training to conquer more peaks, this time without fixed ropes, supplemental oxygen or support teams.
26:58It is survival as sport.
27:02It's snowing. Also very cold, huh?
27:06There's a difference between you and me. What's different in here?
27:10I think we are a little bit better in suffering, maybe.
27:14You've heard me complaining.
27:16People like Simone, me, my dad, my uncle.
27:21We know we come from zero. We're nobody in this world, and we created something for ourselves.
27:28So, like, this is your legacy, but the mountain is also your legacy.
27:32You know, usually you don't talk to 19-year-olds about their legacies.
27:35Oh, yeah. I don't know about legacy for now.
27:39Maybe one day, then I will have my own legacy, maybe after 20, 30 years, yeah?
27:43All right, we'll circle back in 30 years.
27:45Okay, sure.
27:46In Kathmandu, though. I'm not coming back all the way up here.
27:48Yeah.
27:53Let us make the case that the most successful music conservatory is not in Paris, Vienna, or Berlin,
28:08but rather in a house on a tree-lined street in Nottingham, England.
28:13It might be an unpretentious structure, but it's there that seven extravagant talents were nourished on a variety of instruments
28:20before setting off to perform at the world's great concert halls, often as featured soloists with the world's great orchestras.
28:28Each of the seven is still under age 30, representing the young crossover stars that the ever-graying classical music world so urgently needs.
28:37Oh, and one other thing. They're all siblings. Presenting the Connie Masons.
28:42It's rare these days to find all seven Connie Masons siblings under one roof, but when they are back in their childhood home in Nottingham, old habits return quickly.
29:04Amid the din, it's hard to keep thoughts together, much less keep tempo.
29:10Every room spoken for is the siblings practice Bach or Beethoven or Brahms.
29:15This is the setting that produced what is surely the most statistically improbable story in classical music history.
29:23Seven siblings each, a virtuoso by almost any definition.
29:28Roll call.
29:29Genova 23, Aminata 20, Sheku 26, Braima 28, Isida 29, Konya 25, and Mariatu 16.
29:40The Gretel von Trapp, as it were.
29:46The Connie Masons siblings have toured the world, recorded chart-topping albums, won prestigious awards.
29:53They perform with each other in every combination.
29:56And as we saw at Carnegie Hall last winter, the bond between the siblings expresses itself as a kind of musical banter.
30:11We notice when you play together, there really seems to be this unspoken connection, this telepathy.
30:17What is it like playing with a sibling versus a company that you're not related to?
30:23Well, because we're so close, I think there's like a speed at the way that we interact.
30:32And I think that kind of unspoken communication is just very quick because of how close we are.
30:41Because we would listen to each other playing around the house, so we know each other's playing very well.
30:46That dynamic helped the Connie Masons build a devoted fan base.
30:53A diverse, young fan base in a genre desperate for a wider audience.
30:58The overarching question to this whole story is, how do seven siblings achieve this level of talent and success?
31:05Well, I think the environment is so important, and because our environment was so intensely musical and loving and supportive, it was kind of bound to happen in one way or another.
31:16As in, us feeling like we could achieve what we have achieved on our instruments.
31:22I'm hearing a lot of nurture, more than nature.
31:26Yeah, I think that's what we all believe.
31:28I think if there were a nature part, it would be having that base level of interest.
31:32You can't force a child to like something.
31:35There was never a grand plan here, say the parents.
31:38Connie Kane, born in Sierra Leone, and Stuart Mason, born in London, had taken music classes in school.
31:45But that's it.
31:46When they started raising kids, music was just another entry in a packed schedule of after-school activities.
31:52They went to cricket down the road, do you remember?
31:54Oh, gosh, yes.
31:55Lots of football, cricket, karate.
31:56Lots of things.
31:57Cricket, yeah, I've forgotten, yes.
31:58Lots of things.
31:59Tennis.
32:00Gymnastics, yes.
32:01So I think in the end, what you want to do is fuel your child's creative juices, really.
32:06It does not sound as though your children were conceived to have in mind to be musicians.
32:11It sounds like you...
32:12No, it all happens accidentally, really.
32:14The eldest, Izita, started on piano when she was six.
32:18She took to it.
32:19And as the Connie-Mason clan grew, the younger siblings, as younger siblings do, imitated the bigger kids.
32:28A glorious chain reaction.
32:30As to which instruments they chose, there was healthy competition.
32:34Perhaps with a dash of Freud thrown in.
32:41Sheck was saying that he took up cello in part because you had the violin and he wanted to play a bigger instrument.
32:47Yeah, I think there could have been something about it, I think.
32:50And it helps, it's objectively a better instrument, so then...
32:53You're going to take that?
32:55I think the violin is more popular, there's more repertoire.
32:58It became clear each also had talent.
33:05Blazing, abundant talent.
33:08Which Stewart, an executive in the travel industry, and Cottey, a former English professor, were determined to foster.
33:15It was intense.
33:17The kids attended local public schools, then practiced three and four hours a day.
33:22All seven were selected for the junior program at the renowned Royal Academy of Music in London.
33:29Two hours each way, every Saturday.
33:32Any extra income went directly to instruments and lessons.
33:36Cottey says that more than once, they nearly defaulted on their mortgage.
33:42Some people might hear the story and say, boy, I wonder what kind of pressure that must have been.
33:46There must have been a real hot house.
33:48Was it a hot house?
33:49No, it's not a hot house.
33:50I think it's a house of children who had a love of music.
33:53They did work hard.
33:54It's an interesting balance, isn't it?
33:55Because they told us this is what they wanted to do.
33:58So then we had to be honest and say, well, if this is what you want to do, then you have to work hard.
34:03Because the reality is, if you want to be successful at anything, you have to go for it.
34:10But if they said, music's not for me, I want to be a champion darts player or florist.
34:16Great.
34:17Great.
34:19As the kids grew, the home grew into an informal music school.
34:24Every week, they'd all gather for what they called their Sunday concerts.
34:28Each would play a piece, while the others would give notes.
34:31Put us in the room.
34:32What are those like?
34:33Well, the room was the hallway, usually.
34:36Everyone would be sitting on the stairs, kind of looking down at the space.
34:40Looking down.
34:41Looking down like that.
34:42Looking into the Gladiator Stadium.
34:43For the unlucky performer.
34:44Yeah.
34:45And then we take it in turns and perform.
34:46Yeah.
34:47And it's so scary, because you finish performing, and then everyone's like, who wants to go first?
34:52Yeah.
34:53These were really critical.
34:54These were really helpful to your growth as musicians.
34:57Yeah, because you have to get used to putting yourself under that pressure.
35:00Otherwise, you go on stage, and it's so easy to just crumble under the nerves.
35:07If mom and dad weren't typical stage parents, the pressure came instead from one another.
35:12As siblings, they can dispense with the niceties.
35:15They remain each other's toughest critics, most demanding coaches.
35:22I think pressure comes from knowing the standards in the music world.
35:28And I suppose that's not a negative pressure, but just a feeling of this is what's required of me.
35:34In terms of career strategy, Cotty says the kids have always called the shots.
35:39And it's never been about clicks, likes, or commerce.
35:42We're the Cotty Masons.
35:44In 2015, they agreed to appear on Britain's Got Talent.
35:51Good exposure.
35:56But only if they could include real classical repertoire, rather than a pop-heavy set list.
36:02You surely could have milked this story and the novelty of seven kids and shopped a reality show.
36:09Yes.
36:10How did you make these commercial decisions what to pursue and what not?
36:14Because they did not want that.
36:15They wanted to be classical musicians and be really good at what they did.
36:20They had their convictions.
36:21Yes.
36:22Yes.
36:23Well, here is Sheku Kanemason.
36:25From there, the invites and accolades, you might say, crescendoed.
36:32Sheku won a major British music award and caught the eye of a certain couple in search of a wedding entertainer.
36:40When he performed at the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018, the world heard him play.
36:46And suddenly, Sheku was a bona fide star.
36:56The first cellist ever to crack the top ten on the UK album charts.
37:01Here he is, posing for British GQ.
37:04Ironic, because of all the Connie Masons, Sheku presents as the quietest.
37:09Perhaps the least comfortable wearing the cloak of celebrity.
37:13But get a cello in his hand.
37:15Do you mind playing for us?
37:16Oh, with pleasure.
37:17And he transforms.
37:18And draws packed audiences, as we saw in London.
37:38The siblings came out to support, as they try to do whenever one of their own takes the stage.
37:47Sheku's performance quivers with intensity.
37:49Yes, that's sweat glistening on this $3 million Venetian cello he has on loan.
38:02That was phenomenal.
38:06All seven still perform as a family from time to time.
38:11But Konya has pivoted, devoting herself to writing fiction.
38:15Aminata tried out acting school, but music tugged her back and she decided to return to conservatory.
38:21Brima branched out too, touring with the dance-pop band Clean Bandit before returning to classical.
38:33The youngest, Mariatu, plans to go pro.
38:38As to the four current professionals, they're busy recording or touring.
38:42And in the spring, Sheku will take the stage as artist-in-residence at the New York Philharmonic.
38:51They come into the public as this unit, as the Conne Masons.
38:54How do you balance the collective with also trying to carve out an identity as individuals?
39:00I think it's something that probably gets easier as you get older,
39:04because you start to just get more confidence and more knowledge about what kind of things you want to be doing.
39:10And also musically, I think that gets easier.
39:13I mean, we play different instruments, we're different ages, we play different repertoire.
39:17Though there are, well, some strings attached.
39:20Out of all the sisters, we look the most similar.
39:23So a lot of the time people come up to me and be like,
39:25Oh, you played so well last night at Carnegie.
39:27And I was like, that wasn't me.
39:29So we tried to do like, did it happen to you?
39:31A few days ago.
39:32This is the first time this has ever happened.
39:33No, I saw you on TV this morning.
39:35I said, no, you didn't.
39:37I was asleep.
39:40They confess.
39:41They remain fiercely competitive when, say, apportioning dinner or playing board games.
39:46Me too.
39:47No!
39:48So we wondered about competition in their careers.
39:51You should be inspired by those around you.
39:54And if someone is doing something that you're not able to, I think you should feel that encouragement and inspiration to want to do that.
39:59But I think as soon as that comparison starts to become about the external things, like, oh, you're doing this concert, then I think everything can just crumble very quickly.
40:08I think.
40:09And I think that kind of rivalry, if you feeling good about yourself as a musician is based on, ah, ha, ha, you didn't get this concert and I did, I think that's a very weak pace.
40:19Yeah.
40:20So you'll joke about who got the biggest piece of pizza, but you guys draw a line that's not going to contaminate our music.
40:27We draw the line at music because our instruments are such, like, an integral part of ourselves and it would be, like, deeply attacking the other person.
40:34Yet another way that Connie Masons maintain harmony.
40:43An orchestra greater than the sum of its parts.
40:49This most remarkable of septets.
40:52There are some words that don't roll off the tongue.
41:14Semi-quincentennial is one of them.
41:17But we'll get plenty of practice in 2026 with the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
41:26It's a chance to take stock.
41:28How well are we living up to our revolutionary ideals that all are created equal with unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?
41:39Starting in January, we'll set aside time at the end of this broadcast to hear from leaders in the arts, science, and business.
41:48Expect familiar faces and some surprises.
41:51They have agreed to share their reflections on America, including how, over the next 250 years, we might continue working toward a more perfect union.
42:03I'm Bill Whitaker.
42:05We'll be back next week with another edition of 60 Minutes.
42:09Have a Merry Christmas.
42:15Go to the ends of the earth.
42:17We'll hit the heights.
42:18Ah!
42:19Reach for the stars.
42:20Star power.
42:21I like it.
42:22Experience thought-provoking.
42:23Something that's undeniable.
42:25Ta-da!
42:26And truly original reporting.
42:28I'm in on this.
42:29There's always something new under the sun on CBS Sunday Morning.
42:35To be moderator of Face the Nation means bringing the most powerful stakeholders to the table.
42:40Why doesn't he tell Republicans, come into my office, let's hammer this thing out?
42:44Margaret, it's a totally fair question.
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