The Chineke! Junior Orchestra is a youth orchestra of Black and ethnically diverse players aged 11-22. It was founded together with the professional Chineke! Orchestra 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, the Guildhall School of Music and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
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 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. Undoubtedly the orchestra's most high-profile achievement to date is reaching the 2020 semi finals of ITV's Britain's Got Talent.
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 like double bassist Aiyanna Rennie 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 hadnt been able to before. - Sheku Kanneh-Mason MBE
Composer James B. Wilson has been a long-standing Chineke! collaborator. Whether writing commissioned works like Free-Man or Remnants for Chineke! performances, or leading composition workshops as part of Chineke!'s Learning & Participation programme activities, James is a dedicated champion of diversity in classical music. We're thrilled that he has chosen to support the Chineke! Junior Orchestra by running the London Landmarks Half Marathon alongside his brother Daniel Wilson.
We're delighted that the Chineke! Junior Septet will be playing for the LLHM runners on the 'Memory Mile' at 10.20am and 11.30am. The stage will be at Christchurch Greyfriars Church Garden, King Edward Street. The 'Memory Mile' commemorates all the individuals who have been affected by the pandemic, in keeping with the 2021 Theme. Learn more about the route for the London Landmarks Half Marathon.
[Photo credit: Beth Walsh]
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