CHI-CHI NWANOKU: BASS NOTES

The founder of the groundbreaking Chineke! Orchestra on championing diversity in classical music - and creating new stars

- ROSALIND POWELL

When she was at college studying the double bass, Chi-chi Nwanoku was told she'd never have a career in classical music because she played a "man's" instrument. Fast forward almost four decades and Chi-chi will be taking centre stage at the Royal Albert Hall on 1 September at the BBC Proms with Chineke!, the orchestra she founded in 2015.

Made up of young black and ethnically diverse musicians, the orchestra has enjoyed extraordinary success since its inception, helping to launch the careers of classical stars 2315 including cellist Sheku KannehMason, as well as attracting new audiences to what has been seen as an elite art form.

"If you came to a Chineke! concert, you would see that the audience looks like London," Chi-chi says. "People come because they know they'll be represented on stage."

The recipient of an MBE, OBE and CBE for services to music and in 2018 placed ninth by BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour in its list of the world's most powerful women in music, the 67-year-old is determined to keep championing diversity in the classical music world.