Join us on November 30th, 2024, at Wigmore Hall in London for a spectacular day dedicated to the incredible compositions of Daniel Kidane. From the evocative 'Cradle Song' to the dynamic 'Movements' and 'Primitive Blaze,' the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and other talented artists will bring Kidane's vibrant and imaginative works to life.

Experience Daniel Kidane's Musical Brilliance at Wigmore Hall, London

London's vibrant concert halls are set to host a series of captivating events this season, celebrating the immense contributions of Florence Price and other trailblazing women in music. From the Chineke! Orchestra's tribute at the Southbank Centre to Samantha Ege's piano recital at Milton Court Concert Hall, audiences will be treated to powerful performances that highlight underrepresented voices. Don't miss the London Philharmonic Orchestra's lively family concert, 'FUNharmonics: Stan and Mabel,' and the evocative duo of Laura van der Heijden and Jâms Coleman at Wigmore Hall. The season culminates with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's rendition of Price's Piano Concerto at the Royal Festival Hall.

Celebrating Phenomenal Women: Florence Price's Legacy in London Concerts

From Bruckner’s monumental 8th Symphony in Munich to Rachmaninoff's exhilarating Symphonic Dances in Hamburg, and Alexandre Kantorow's virtuoso performance in Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Munich, this season offers a rich tapestry of orchestral brilliance. Other highlights include the Chineke! Orchestra's dynamic debut, Víkingur Ólafsson’s hypnotic Brahms, and Mahler Chamber Orchestra’s homage to Ravel, all culminating in an extraordinary musical journey.

Munich, Hamburg, and Tokyo: A Symphony of Orchestral Masterpieces

Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason makes her solo debut with the orchestra in a night of depth and diversity, under the baton of Kevin John Edusei.

This concert is not just a gathering of musical talent but also a celebration of the familial bonds within the Chineke! Orchestra.

The concert opens with the UK premiere of the dynamic sounds of Derrick Skye's Prisms, Cycles, Leaps.

EPSG:4326

Elbphilharmonie: Harmony and Heritage

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

The centrepiece is Valerie Coleman's Concerto for Wind Quintet and Orchestra, Phenomenal Women. The piece is a profound tribute to women who have stepped into treacherous spaces, inspired the world, and moved the course of history; shining a bright light and opening doors, especially for women of colour.

Southbank Centre: Phenomenal Women

Southbank Centre

Stewart Goodyear is the soloist in his own vibrant celebration of Caribbean music, Callaloo, while Duke Ellington’s jazzed-up take on Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker turns waltz into swing and Sugar Plum into heady rum. Conductor Andrew Grams ends with the most emotionally intense and musically robust symphony Tchaikovsky ever wrote, his heartbreakingly autobiographical ‘Pathétique’.

BBC Proms: Chineke! plays Tchaikovsky’s ‘Pathétique’ Symphony

Royal Albert Hall

Chineke! return to the festival in 2024. The concert begins with the sparkling Ballade, Op. 33, by the British composer Samuel Coleridge- Taylor, a work of late Romanticism that immediately catches the ear. It might be reminiscent of Tchaikovsky or Dvořák. The latter undoubtedly influenced the symphonic music of the African American composer Florence Price. In 2022, Yannick Nézet-Séguin introduced Price’s First Symphony to Lucerne, and now we can hear her Third. In between, things get jazzy with the Violin Concerto by the legendary trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis.

Lucerne Festival: Coleridge-Taylor, Marsalis, Florence B. Price

KKL Luzern Concert Hall

The Chineke! Junior Orchestra is the sister ensemble to the Chineke! Orchestra, and is made up of majority Black and ethnically diverse musicians aged 11 - 22. Both ensembles were founded simultaneously in 2015 with the aim of creating opportunities for emerging and established musicians of Black and ethnically diverse heritage.

Southbank Centre (Clore Ballroom): Chineke! Junior Orchestra

Enjoy an extraordinary evening of music as the Chineke! Junior Orchestra takes the stage for their much anticipated summer concert, marking the culmination of their annual week-long residential course.

The Chineke! Junior Orchestra is the sister ensemble to the Chineke! Orchestra, and is made up of majority Black and ethnically diverse musicians aged 11 - 22. Both ensembles were founded simultaneously in 2015 with the aim of creating opportunities for emerging and established musicians of Black and ethnically diverse heritage.

Fairfield Concert Hall: Chineke! Junior Orchestra

Fairfield Halls

Fela Sowande came to London in 1934 and had a distinguished career in England, Nigeria and the USA. His music combines Western tradition with his native Yoruba culture. Perhaps his best-known work, the African Suite is packed full of open-hearted melodies in its five short movements.

Sowande, Kinoshi, Richter

Friedrich-von-Thiersch-Saal

The Anvil

Elbphilharmonie

Commissioned by Chineke! Orchestra and subtly echoing the essence of his Trinidadian heritage, Goodyear has said that the work’s name, Life, Life, Life, is something that his mother would often say, whether she was feeling happy, exhausted, or exasperated. She embraced life fully, and Goodyear aims to capture her joy for eternity in this music. Every second is dedicated to her spirit.

Southbank Centre: Goodyear, Berlioz, Garcia

Experience the original animated classic roaring from the big screen, all whilst Hans Zimmer's Oscar®-winning score is performed live to picture. Featuring Chineke! Orchestra and London Community Gospel Choir, conducted by Sarah Hicks.  Plus, special guests from the West End join us to celebrate 25 years of the stage musical.  

The Lion King in Concert

The Symphony of Love is a confluence of the rich musical traditions of India and the West, featuring a curated collection of popular old film classics, current Bollywood hits and ghazals – rearranged for orchestra.

Southbank Centre: Pratibha Singh Baghel: The Symphony of Love

The Chineke! Wind Quintet and Adjoa Andoh feature in our Sunday family concerts of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, in partnership with Workspace. Chineke!’s mission is to “champion change and celebrate diversity within classical music”. Peter and the Wolf is a much-loved classic and the perfect family-friendly concert.

Classical Vauxhall: Chineke! Wind Quintet / Adjoa Andoh

Classical Vauxhall

Watts’ piece, Majestique – a rhythmically driven symphonic work which blends mainstream classical influences, particularly Beethoven and Mendelssohn, with a unique personal voice – opens the concert. It also marks Watts’ first orchestral piece to implement full sonata form and it, as its name suggests, is truly majestic.

Southbank Centre: Watts, Saint-Saëns, Coleridge-Taylor

The critically acclaimed musicians of Chineke! make their Stratford East debut with a kaleidoscopic programme for string quartet. The evening celebrates the work of two African-American composers: rising star Brian Nabors, who draws on jazz, funk, R&B and gospel alongside contemporary classical music, and William Grant Still, who was arguably the first Black composer to gain prominence in the world of American classical music in the 1930s. 

Chineke! String Quartet at Stratford East

The critically acclaimed musicians of Chineke! come to Newcastle-under-Lyme’s New Vic Theatre with a kaleidoscopic programme for string quartet. Bookended by well-loved classics by Mendelssohn and Haydn, the evening focuses in on work by two contrasting African-American composers: rising star Brian Nabors draws on jazz, funk, R&B and gospel alongside contemporary classical music, while William Grant Still was arguably the first Black composer to gain prominence in the world of American classical music in the 1930s.

Chineke! String Quartet at Newcastle-under-Lyme’s New Vic Theatre

Celebrate a joyful occasion with a programme packed full of traditional and soulful carols, classical gems, and opportunities for audience participation!

Woolwich Works: A Chineke! Christmas

Fairfield Halls: A Chineke! Christmas

St John the Evangelist Church: A Chineke! Christmas

St John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church

Forging a path that has consistently defied categorisation, the composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist Armatrading explores a new voice in writing for the orchestra. With a renowned catalogue of 21 albums to her credit, Armatrading’s distinctive musicianship has always followed her own curiosity outside of genre boundaries and into new creative arenas. Her first symphony, premiered by the Chineke! Orchestra, brings an electrostatic charge to the concert hall.

Southbank Centre: Armatrading & Tchaikovsky

Five-time Grammy Award-winner Angélique Kidjo returns to the Royal Albert Hall for a celebration of her 40-year career, performing her greatest hits accompanied by the Chineke! Orchestra, conducted by Chris Cameron, and special guests including Grammy-nominated trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf and Senegalese superstar Youssou N’Dour.

Angélique Kidjo

Reportedly a favourite of the soon-to-be-deposed Marie Antoinette, it was commissioned by the dazzling violinist, fencer and composer Joseph Bologne. Despite his close engagement with the highest aristocratic circles, Bologne - who had dual French/Caribbean heritage - was invigorated by the Revolution’s ethos of social reform, later leading a legion in support of the Republic.

Haydn, Bologne, Beethoven

University of Warwick

Get to know Chi-chi Nwanoku and the soloists of Chineke! in this uniquely intimate chamber concert. This beautiful programme of double bass chamber works juxtaposes rarely heard arrangements of Florence B. Prices ‘5 Folksongs in Counterpoint’ with Franz Schubert’s Trout Quintet, and includes a candid interview with Artistic Director Shiry Rashkovsky about all things musical.

Up Close And Musical: Chi-chi Nwanoku & Chineke! Soloists

On a mission to champion change and celebrate diversity in classical music, Chineke! also showcases music by pioneering Black British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and his American namesake, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson. Plus there’s an opportunity to hear Valerie Coleman’s pandemic anthem, Seven O’Clock Shout.

BBC Prom 61: Chineke! Performs Beethoven's Fourth Symphony

2023 marks the 250th anniversary of one of the world’s most beloved hymns, Amazing Grace. Written by the Reverend John Newton to accompany his New Year’s Day service in the Olney Parish Church of St Peter & St Paul on 1 January 1773, the hymn has gone on to inspire countless people around the world and has even become known in America as the nation’s ‘spiritual anthem.’

The Stables: Chineke! Chamber Ensemble

Musicians from Chineke! return to the Pittville Pump Room. Journeying across broad musical terrain, they take you from Ligeti’s lively and irreverent bagatelles and Ravel’s expansive harmonies to the American soundworlds of William Grant Still and Valerie Coleman.

Cheltenham Festival: Chineke! Wind Quintet

The work, conceived as incidental music to accompany Shakespeare’s play, is operatic and grand in style, with both funeral and military marches, along with lyrical, intimate moments.

Florence Price expresses aspects of her African American heritage within a symphonic framework in her Third Symphony, completed in 1940.

Coleridge-Taylor, Goodyear, Price

International orchestra Chineke! will make their Harrogate debut, opening the Summer Festival at the Royal Hall. The Chineke! Foundation was created by Chi-chi Nwanoku CBE in 2015 to provide outstanding career opportunities to established and up-and-coming Black and ethnically diverse classical musicians in the UK and Europe. The Foundation’s flagship ensemble, the Chineke! Orchestra, comprises exceptional musicians from across the continent brought together multiple times per year. Praised for their ‘special electricity’ at their Proms debut and joining Stormzy on stage at the 2023 BRIT Awards, their programme features Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Famously dubbed the Black Mahler, his light yet spirited Novelletten is actually inspired by German Robert Schumann’s piano miniatures, the eight Novelletten.

Harrogate Festival, Royal Hall: Grand Opening Concert

Royal Hall, Harrogate

The Chineke! Wind Quintet comprises players of the Chineke! Orchestra and the ensemble is delighted to bring a varied programme of wind repertoire to the Shaldon Festival. Highlights include the music of African-American composers William Grant Still (Summerland, 1935) and Valerie Coleman (Red Clay & Mississippi Delta, 2016). Both works speak to the Black experience in the American South, and are presented alongside music from Gyorgy Ligeti, Paul Hindemith, Maurice Ravel.

Shaldon Festival: Chineke! Wind Quintet

Craig David and Beverley Knight are among the very special guests confirmed for a night of celebration to mark 75 years since Windrush. The event at the Royal Albert Hall on 9 June is being curated and hosted by Trevor Nelson.

Windrush 75 Celebration

Experience the European Premiere of Black Panther in Concert as part of the Royal Albert Hall’s Films in Concert series. With the Chineke! Orchestra and special guest Massamba Diop, talking drum soloist, who performed on the original score.

In 2018, Marvel Studios’ ‘Black Panther’ quickly became a global sensation and cultural phenomenon, showing a new dimension of what Super Hero films could be. Relive the excitement of T’Challa becoming king and battling Killmonger all while a live orchestra performs Ludwig Göransson’s Oscar® and Grammy®-winning score live to picture.

Black Panther in Concert with Chineke! Orchestra

This landmark year celebrates not only musical excellence and diversity but also its role in illuminating works of previously overlooked composers, reinforcing its commitment to an inclusive classical music world.

Chineke! Orchestra

Jan 24, 2025

Southbank Centre: Chineke! Orchestra Celebrates a Decade

11 - 21 Nov, 2024

Elbphilharmonie: Harmony and Heritage

Oct 9, 2024

Southbank Centre: Phenomenal Women

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