The Chineke! Chamber Ensemble make their Kings Place debut with a programme including works by composers of Black and ethnically diverse heritage who lived and worked in London.

Composers, Ignatius Sancho (c.1729-1780), Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) and Errollyn Wallen (b 1958), will feature alongside the Piano Quintet by Vaughan Williams, who was a contemporary of Coleridge-Taylor, both composers enrolling at the Royal College of Music on the same day in September 1890.

Chineke! was founded in 2015 by the double bass player, Chi-chi Nwanoku OBE, to provide career opportunities for young Black, Asian and ethnically diverse classical musicians in the UK and Europe. Chineke!’s mission is: ‘Championing change and celebrating diversity in classical music’.

In 2017, the Chineke! Orchestra made its BBC Proms debut at the Royal Albert Hall in August and performed at many other leading festivals throughout England, all to great critical acclaim. Chineke! has released four CDs to date, which you can hear on Spotify.

The Chineke! Ensemble comprises the principal players of the Chineke! Orchestra. It has performed in Manchester in 2017 and made its debut at Wigmore Hall in 2018 before going on to play at the Cheltenham and Ryedale festivals. It has since performed at the Tonbridge Music Club, Wimbledon International Festival, Cambridge Music Festival, St George’s Bristol and Snape Maltings.