Classical home listening: Chineke!’s Nutcracker Suite; Angela Hewitt’s Mozart Sonatas
Chineke! swing in an infectious jazz version of Tchaikovsky’s ballet by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. And Angela Hewitt keeps Mozart wonderfully fresh
July 2023
Home listening
Classical home listening: Emmanuel Despax’s nights at the piano; Chineke! Orchestra play Florence Price
Despax’s elegant tribute to the belle époqueera perfectly suits his style, while Price is the subject of a lively set featuring Jeneba Kanneh-Mason
September 2022
‘It’s my age that’s the talking point, not that I’m black’: Toks Dada, the Southbank’s head of classical music
Lucerne festival 2022 review – strength through diversity
August 2021
The week in classical: Chineke! Orchestra; Alcina – review
A once-lost work by Florence Price soars in the hands of Jeneba Kanneh-Mason. And minimalist Handel with thrills to spare
May 2021
Fate Now Conquers: Kanneh-Mason/Chineke!/Edusei review – fine sounds of celebration
Reopening culture
Let’s not ‘get back to normal’: the Southbank Centre will reflect our changed world
Gillian Moore
October 2020
Chineke! Orchestra review – broadening horizons
A spirited revival for the work of an African American composer of the 30s; and a turbulent Avril Coleridge-Taylor
September 2020
TV review
Black Classical Music: The Forgotten History review – challenging orchestrated racism
From Chevalier De Saint-Georges to Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, black classical musicians and composers have been largely written out of the canon. This fascinating one-off asks why
January 2020
Home listening
Home Listening: Rhian Samuel, Chineke! Orchestra and Beethoven Unleashed
Welsh composer Rhian Samuel features on two fine new discs; six composers impress on Chineke!’s latest; and Beethoven’s epic 1808 concert revisited
July 2019
Classical music is overwhelmingly white and male. My orchestra shows that can change
Chi-chi Nwanoku
This year’s Proms include too few female and BME composers and musicians, says Chi-chi Nwanoku, founder of Europe’s first majority BME orchestra
April 2018
The week in classical: Chineke!; Steve Reich’s Different Trains; LPO: Perséphone – review
Chineke! reopened the refurbished Queen Elizabeth Hall in celebratory style, closely followed by trains, a dame and yawning schoolboys
August 2017
RSPO/Oramo/Chineke!/Edusei review – rounded, exquisite, played to perfection
Observer New Review Q&A
Hannah Kendall: ‘I’m a millennial composer! I have to make money to survive’
June 2017
Summer arts preview 2017
The top classical, world, folk and jazz of summer 2017
Comedy choirs, desert rock, a trip to the moon and a musical tour of Hull are the standout sounds of the season. Plus Django Bates jazzes up Sgt Pepper
April 2017
Chineke! Orchestra/Heyward review – spirited and stylish performances
Five of the best… new classical concerts
Chineke! Orchestra and Turandot: this week’s best classical concerts in the UK
November 2016
Sheku Kanneh-Mason: ‘I’ve always felt that I fitted in’
Make classical inclusive of black people, says BBC's Young Musician 2016
September 2016
Sheku Kanneh-Mason: 'Classical music isn't elitist – the problem is it's expensive'
This year’s BBC Young Musician winner has had to balance revising for exams with preparing for his Royal Festival Hall concerto debut. And then there’s finding time to beat his brother at football ...
