CHINEKE! JUNIOR ORCHESTRA

NOW OPEN: Chineke! Junior Orchestra Residential Course Applications

Applications for the Chineke! Junior Orchestra Residential Course are now open - CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS

The Chineke! Orchestra works closely with its sister ensemble, the Chineke! Junior Orchestra, a youth orchestra of Black and ethnically diverse players 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.

Many of our Junior Orchestra players already benefit from a number of existing youth schemes, junior music colleges and specialist music schools across the UK. The Chineke! Orchestra plays an important role in this project, with senior players acting as mentors, teachers and role models to the young musicians. In this way, the Chineke! Junior Orchestra acts as a bridge between such schemes and higher education, giving its players experience, encouragement and confidence during their formative years, with the hope of increasing the numbers of Black and ethnically diverse candidates currently studying music at third level. This process has already begun, with several of our Chineke! Juniors winning full scholarships to the Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, Royal Northern College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music.

Chineke! Junior Orchestra provides young musicians with unique opportunities to perform publicly at prestigious venues and occasions. As an Associate Orchestra of the Southbank Centre, the Junior Orchestra performs at the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Clore Ballroom up to 3 times a year for special concerts and at festivals such as Africa Utopia and the Imagine Children's Festival. Public performances by the Chineke! Juniors include the 2019 CBeebies Prom, a chamber ensemble at the Foundling Museum for HRH the Duchess of Cambridge, for the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan at City Hall to commemorate 2019 Black History Month and the full orchestra performance at Eltham Palace as part of Greenwich Festival. These formative experiences are a fundamental part of building confident, dynamic performers, and we are delighted to see how each individual thrives as a member of the Chineke! Junior Orchestra. Some junior musicians eventually progress to play as members of the senior orchestra. Among our notable alumni are the Kanneh-Mason siblings, who have gone on to perform to great acclaim as some of the most exciting new talents on the classical music scene.

“Chineke! Orchestra was so inspiring for me because I was then suddenly surrounded by musicians and hearing their stories and being able to directly relate to them in a way I hadn’t been able to before.”

— Sheku Kanneh-Mason, The Voice - January 2020