Chi-chi Nwanoku

Chi-chi is the Founder and Artistic Director of Chineke! Foundation. She has been instrumental in creating opportunities for Black and ethnically diverse musicians through the Chineke! Orchestra and Chineke! Junior Orchestra, commissioning new works, championing historical composers of diverse heritage, and establishing scholarships with major U.K. conservatoires. The ABO/RPS Salomon Prize, which celebrates “unsung heroes” working in British orchestras, is her dream-child. 

Chi-chi is a Professor and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music, Honorary Fellow of Trinity Laban Conservatoire, and Honorary Doctor at Chichester University and the Open University. Chi-chi was awarded the CBE for Services to Music & Diversity in 2022, and in 2021 named the first Ambassador for Intergenerational Music Making. She featured in the Powerlist of Britain’s 100 Most Influential Black People for the last four consecutive years. Chi-chi regularly broadcasts for TV and radio, including BBC, Sky Arts, and Classic FM.