The Chineke! Orchestra, led by “Chi-Chi” Nwanoku, a British double bassist of Nigerian and Irish descent, has refused to perform the British anthem in honor of the deceased queen at the Lucerne Festival. Founder and artistic director Nwanoku omitted the piece from the program, on the grounds that it symbolizes the racist British Empire.
“The Chineke! Orchestra is full of musicians who are not from the U.K. and many who are the direct result of their ancestors being enslaved. We will not be playing the National Anthem in Lucerne,” she wrote.
