Chineke! Orchestra

The Chineke! Foundation was established in 2015 by Chi-chi Nwanoku with the aim of promoting Black and ethnically diverse musicians and opening up better career opportunities for them. “Championing change and celebrating diversity in classical music” is the motto of the organization, whose name comes from Nigerian and means “creator of the world and of the good.” The flagship is the Chineke! Orchestra, Europe’s first orchestra made up of a majority of People of Color, which also performs the music of ethnically diverse composers on an equal footing with the classics in its repertoire. After its first concert at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in September 2015, the orchestra was immediately appointed Associate Orchestra at the Southbank Centre and has since performed in many music centers in the UK and Europe; in March 2022, it made its first guest appearance in Australia. The Chineke! Orchestra’s 2022 summer tour has taken the ensemble to the Edinburgh Festival, Snape Maltings, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Helsinki, and the BBC Proms, finally culminating at Lucerne Festival. The members of the orchestra also work closely with the youth formation, the Chineke! Junior Orchestra, where they teach and serve as mentors. The orchestra was awarded the inaugural Gamechanger Award in 2019 as a groundbreaking initiative for classical music. The Chineke! Orchestra has released several CDs, including recordings conducted by Kevin John Edusei, Wayne Marshall, and Roderick Cox.

August 2022