by Rachel Ogbu//

Chi-chi Nwanoku has been working to change the face and colour of classical music in the UK and around the world. Her work earned her an MBE for services to Music in the 2001 Queen’s Birthday honours and in 2016 she was announced as the Black British Business Person of the Year.

Born to a Nigerian father and Irish mother, Nwanoku was first one of the fastest 100-metre sprinters in England. “My Nigerian father and Irish mother brought me up believing that I could do anything I wanted. They never doubted me for a second, and I was surrounded by people who supported and encouraged me,” she said. “We were the only black family at my primary and secondary schools, and I didn’t think at all about being the only black student at the Royal Academy of Music. My attitude is that if anyone has a problem with the colour of my skin it’s their problem not mine; I don’t think I necessarily even notice what my colleagues might term racism. And yet I know it’s there, though it’s taken a while for it to sink in, and to realise that I can actually do something about it.”

Her career as an athlete ended after a knee injury when she was at 18, and she turned to her other love…classical music. She learnt to play the double bass (studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London and with Franco Petracchi in Rome) and has made her living as a soloist and member of prestigious orchestras.

Chi-chi is Founder, Artistic and Executive Director of Chineke!, Europe’s first professional orchestra comprising Black and minority ethnic (BME) musicians. Chineke!’s mission is “championing change and celebrating diversity” and it seeks to redress the imbalance of the representation of BME musicians in British orchestras.

She is Principal Double Bass and a founding member of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and Professor of Double Bass Historical Studies at the Royal Academy of Music, where she was made a Fellow in 1998.

As a broadcaster Chi-chi presented BBC Radio 3 Requests for four years, was a Jury member for BBC 2 TV ‘Classical Star’ and is a regular guest presenting the BBC Proms on TV. She devised and presented a two-part series for BBC Radio 4 in 2015 which brought to life the stories and music of black composers and musicians from the 18th century, whose vivid presence on the classical music scene has slipped through the net! Chi-chi is the ‘mentor’ in this year’s BBC TV series ‘All Together Now, the Great Orchestra Challenge’.

Some of her notable chamber recordings include Schubert’s ‘Trout’ Quintet (recorded three times) and Octet, Beethoven’s Septet, Boccherini Sonatas, and a solo recording of Dittersdorf and Vanhal Concertos, Hyperion CD 67179.

As well as being a trustee of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the Mayor’s Music Funds, she served on the board of the Association of British Orchestras (ABO) from 2008 to 2013 and as a Council Member of the Royal Philharmonic Society since 2009, and in 2011 created the ABO/RPS Salomon Prize which celebrates the “unsung heroes” working in the ranks of British Orchestras.

In 2012 Barrie Gavin directed a documentary film about Chi-chi’s career, called ‘Tales from the Bass Line’. She was one of the 100 – Happy List in the Independent on Sunday 2011, and in July this year was appointed as an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Laban Conservatoire in recognition of her “pioneering contribution to music, in particular the inspiration she provides, the commitment she has shown, and the contribution she has made to addressing inequalities within classical music in the UK, most recently through the Chineke! Foundation.” Chi-chi is a passionate advocate of the importance of music in everyone’s lives and is committed to teaching and sharing her love of music.

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