The real deal | 20 April 2017

How about this for an inspiring response to what could have been a personal tragedy. Chi-chi Nwanoku was in the sixth form at school, a promising athlete hoping to represent Great Britain as a 100-metre sprinter, when she injured her knee playing football. ‘It was a poignantly painful moment,’ she recalls, but thanks to a far-seeing music teacher and headmaster, and her own inimitable character, the accident was turned into a springboard not just for her but, through her, for many other young musicians too. When she returned to school, she was told, ‘We think you could have a career in music,’ and she was taken into the music room where two double basses were lying ready for her. She was not at all impressed at first. But, knowing her and understanding her character, her teachers simply said, ‘Look Chi-chi. When have you ever been put off by a challenge?’

She’s now not only an international soloist as a double bassist but has also established her own orchestra, Chineke!, to champion diversity in classical music, and it is made up entirely of black and other ethnic minority players.