The Chineke! Orchestra
Chineke! was founded in 2015 by the double bass player, Chi-chi Nwanoku CBE, to provide career opportunities for Black and ethnically diverse classical musicians in the UK and Europe. Chineke!’s mission is: ‘Championing change and celebrating diversity in classical music’.
The Chineke! Orchestra, the Foundation’s flagship ensemble, works closely with its sister ensemble, the Chineke! Junior Orchestra, a youth orchestra of Black and ethnically diverse players aged between 11 and 22, with senior players acting as mentors, teachers and role models to the young musicians.
Impact
Chineke! Impact
The past nine years has seen an extraordinary increase of Chineke!’s activities and impact. The Orchestra now gives around 40 concerts each year in the UK including Festivals in Aldeburgh, BBC Proms, Brighton, and Cheltenham, and in concert series in Basingstoke and Birmingham. Chineke! also performs regularly at St George’s Bristol and Warwick Arts Centre in Coventry where it has Residencies. In London, Chineke! is a Resident Orchestra at Southbank Centre performing regularly at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Royal Festival Hall, and in late 2022 Chineke! began a close association with Woolwich Works in the Royal Borough of Greenwich where Chineke!’s administration offices are located.
Abroad, Chineke! has undertaken several major tours to Europe in 2019, 2022 and 2023. The Chineke! Junior Orchestra made its debut European tour in 2022, playing the opening concert of the Lucerne Festival, followed by the Konzerthaus, Berlin and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Chineke! Chamber Ensemble had its debut in Australia playing two concerts at the Adelaide Festival and giving educational workshops. In March 2023 Chineke! Orchestra had its hugely successful debut tour of North America, gaining many new friends and supporters. Several CD recordings have already been released since 2017 and in 2022 Chineke! Records was launched in association with Decca Records.
Ethnically diverse composers
The Chineke! Orchestra includes works by Black and ethnically diverse composers in every concert programme, championing composers from the past who have been overlooked and neglected, including Ignatius Sancho, Joseph Bologne, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Florence B. Price, Avril Coleridge-Taylor, William Grant-Still, William Dawson and George Walker, and performing, commissioning and recording the music of living Black composers including Valerie Coleman, Stewart Goodyear, Philip Herbert, Julian Joseph, Hannah Kendall, Daniel Kidane, Jessie Montgomery, Brian Nabors, Carlos Simon, Errollyn Wallen, Roderick Williams andJames B. Wilson.
Another phenomenon of Chineke! is the audiences, which the evidence shows are far more ethnically diverse than at most classical concerts.
Many cultural organisations such as the BBC, Association of British Orchestras, Royal Philharmonic Society and Arts Council England have supported Chineke!. After its launch concert at Queen Elizabeth Hall in September 2015, the Chineke! Orchestra was appointed as an Associate Orchestra of Southbank Centre and became a Resident Orchestra in 2022. In 2023 Chineke! became an Arts Council England “National Portfolio Organisation” with significant grant support which will enable them to continue their work across England.
CHINEKE! Mission
Diversity in Classical Music
Chineke!’s motto is: ‘Championing change and celebrating diversity in classical music’.
