Chineke! Orchestra: Flanders Festival
In September 2017, Chineke! Orchestra performed their first international concert at the Flanders Festival of Ghent, marking the start of a significant new touring partnership with this ground-breaking orchestra. Their motto, ‘Championing change and celebrating diversity in classical music’, resonated clearly with Ghent Festival’s own mission to celebrate diversity, creativity, virtuosity and the next generation of musicians.
In this historic collaboration, under the baton of Roderick Cox the orchestra performed a striking combination of repertoire showcasing BME composers, alongside some great masterworks. Pieces by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Chevalier de Saint-Georges that were little-known at the time of the performance have since been regularly featured in the concert halls of Europe. Broadcast live on Klara Radio, the concert also featured Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1, performed by the Queen Elisabeth Competition laureate 2017, Victor Julien-Laferrière. The event concluded with Elgar’s Enigma Variations in the iconic St. Bavo’s Cathedral, greeted by a standing ovation.
From this moment, as dedicated touring partners we have harnessed this momentum to create tours across the most prestigious concert halls of Europe, including Amsterdam, Cologne, Hamburg, Bruges and Antwerp. Through this partnership, the orchestra’s international profile has increased, with a debut North American tour in 2023 to Ottawa, Toronto, New York, Boston, Worcester, Ann Arbor. We have also deepened our work with tours for it’s sister ensemble – the Chineke! Junior Orchestra.
Askonas Holt’s proud partnership with Chineke! Orchestra signifies our continuing journey to support a more diverse and increasingly relevant range of ensembles and touring projects.