Chineke! Orchestra announces Decca partnership

Chineke! Orchestra – the leading ensemble of the Chineke! Foundation, a UK-based organisation that champions diversity and inclusion in classical music – has announced a new partnership with Decca. An album of works by British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875–1912) will be the first release to be distributed under the Chineke! Records arm. Chineke! Foundation founder Chi-Chi Nwanoku will take on a new role as executive producer of Chineke! Records. 
 
The debut release – out 30 September – commemorates the 110th anniversary of Coleridge-Taylor's death (1 September 1912). The album includes the Violin Concerto in G minor, originally dedicated to Minnie 'Maud' Powell, a champion of music by African-American and female composers, first performed days after the composer’s death. It also features the 1898 African Suite, based on the poetry of the African-American poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar, and a premiere recording of a piece by Samuel's daughter Avril Coleridge-Taylor.
 
Nwanoku – who was made CBE earlier this year – presents Chi-chi’s Classical Champions on Classic FM, a programme that profiles Black and ethnically diverse composers who, like Coleridge-Taylor, deserve greater attention.