Chineke’s a rare winner in Arts Council funding round
NewsChi-chi Nwanoku’s diversity orchestra Chineke! has been added to the National FundingPortfolio with £700,000 a year. They have managed pretty well without for the past five years, but the ACE could hardly turn them down when the application came in.
Opera UpClose, London based, has also been recognised. They say: ‘This work begins in 2023 with a nationwide tour of Laura Bowler and Glyn Maxwell’s boldly re-imagined version of Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman, developed in partnership with Manchester Camerata; initial development and community outreach around Vaughan Williams’ sung play Riders to the Sea in partnership with composer Michael Betteridge and writer development agency Artful Scribe; and a revival of Peace At Last for early years settings in Southampton and the Isle of Wight.’
Their gain is Glyndebourne Touring’s loss.
Looking forward to hearing their rendition of “God save the Queen.”
God save the King vastly more likely.
No National Anthem is the most likely form of gratitude of any diversity hire of the school of resentment.
The show would not be complete without Charles III becoming the Patron of Diversity, remembering the late Queen as a representative of racism. Just ask Nelson Mandela. No?…
Or equally unlikely
No surprise there. Gotta tick those boxes.
Exactly.
‘Diversity Orchestra’ is absurd. All orchestras are diverse these days, but the ‘diverse members’ are not dark enough for the Arts Council.
How diverse is the Arts Council, I wonder?
Didn’t take long for the white supremecists to appear.
Really, Ann?
Looking in a mirror, I seem more than dark enough to satisfy the Arts Council’s preferences. Good box-ticking material. Perhaps I should have applied for funding as (not very good) white supremecist [sic] viola player.
Please stop with the childish nonsense.
@ Ann: I take it you’re new to this site. Thanks for the laugh.
Any criticism of the DEI results in a shrill harpy such as yourself bandying about the most ridiculous allegations. Shocked you didn’t jump straight to Nazi fascist.
Adding Chineke to the NPO with their current AD in post only weeks after most of the board resigned amidst a bullying scandal really does rather make a mockery of ACE’s professed emphasis on governance and fair working conditions.
Presumably she wouldn’t stoop so low as to accept money from the British taxpayer, so tainted by slavery and racism?
Quite. And she is happy to accept the gongs, but not to have her band play the national anthem. Hypocrite.
Hmm… the seemingly anti-British views of Chi-Chi Nwanoku CBE (as she insists on being called) evidently don’t extend to turning down free UK Government assistance, while other arts organisations based in England are having their grants severely cut or even removed entirely. This ACE award is, I feel, a disgrace and a slap in the face to those who have, in contrast, been cut adrift by the latest cack-handed budgeting decisions of ACE.
You wait till she takes over Radio 3…
…nor will she return her OBE, MBE and CBE. Crass hypocrisy.
Diversity does not mean any colour as long as it isn’t white European.
This is utter nonsense- so much so it makes you want to puke. An orchestra (all be it highly competent I’m sure) gets rewarded because it ticks all the ‘diversity’ boxes. The Philharmonia- one of the greatest orchestras the world has ever seen- with an awesome recorded legacy- partially loses its funding. Which fools at ACE (probably none of which possesses an ounce of musical talent) are making these decisions? No wonder so many musicians in this country are getting depressed & fear for their livelihoods. Might be for the better- they shut up job & go & work abroad where they’ll be much more appreciated.
Sadly, Mark, I don’t think this is a highly competent orchestra. Some good individual players, I’m sure, but not an orchestra that thrills on stage. Glancing down the current list of classical NPOs, I think I’ve seen most (if not all) live and Chineke would be firmly at the bottom of the list in terms of quality of performance. And well below plenty who aren’t even on the list. They’re just not as good as the many excellent outfits we have in the UK, but no one’s allowed to say that without having their commitment to diversity questioned, or worse, being branded a racist.
Not a very good orchestra? Must be our fault, then.
I’ve decided to start a Diversity Opera company, specifically for the performance of traditional Beijing Chinese Opera in UK. As is well known, Chinese Opera has been dominated for many years by performers and audiences from one ethnic group. This is regrettable. The diversity will be achieved by excluding traditional performers and audiences, and aiming to provide a more representative mix of ethnicities, of modern UK.
The first problem we have is that, outside of china, there are relatively few experienced singers or musicians who can perform Chinese Opera, and those that there are unfortunately do not show the required ethnic diversity. Therefor i will be applying for a large arts council grant to fund a programme of recruitment and training of performers. This may take many years to find candidates with the required ethnic mix, and so i will appoint a chief diversity officer for the Diversity Opera, on full salary, to initiate this. In the early years, I anticipate having to cover this role myself, in view of the lack of candidates with suitable knowledge and diversity to hold the post.
If successful i hope to expand into other diversification initiatives, such as traditional Japanese folk music, and Tibetan chanting.
I would welcome donations to support my enlightened project, which i believe is truly in the spirit of 21st century UK artistic values.
Peter
This is just what I’ve been looking for. I’ll forward my CV.
I play the viola, not very well, but who cares? I’m diverse, very diverse, Ms Nwanoku looks like an albino by comparison.
I’ve never been east of Antwerp and know virtually nothing about Chinese Opera, but it would be discriminatory to hold that against me. And if you turn me down, you’ll have some explaining to do on the BBC.
I look forward to hearing from you.
I’d like to apply for consideration to be trained please…thank you.
Excellent. I welcome your applications. I am hoping that for true diversity we will also get applications from the Blue Man Group, and perhaps from the Jolly Green Giant. We will of course have an extensive round of interviews and in depth psychometric tests. No auditions of course, because that would advantage those with elitist education. Though i think Adrienne may be able to perform some notes on their viola, to confirm that they has not had this privilege.
Please be aware that the selection will follow best practice in international competitions, and to avoid any potential for bias, the winner will be decided before hand.
The winner will probably be me. Subject to confirmation of funding.
I’m all for Chineke! receiving NPO funding, but the quantum (£700k) is ridiculous – completely disproportionate to what other smaller orchestras (eg OAE, Aurora) are awarded. Arts Council appears to have taken leave of its senses in displaying such largesse to a few ‘diverse-led’ organisations while the rest of the sector suffers such hardship. Totally nuts.
Rewarded for hating the country.
The ghastly, intolerably smug Serota has, as far as I’m aware, never shown the slightest interest in classical music. He is the liberal establishment insider’s insider, blessed, it would seem with a tin ear. He is a major part of the problem.
Bravo!
The most depressing thing I’ve ever read on here.
PC BS