On my way home from the sublime Chineke! Foundation Prom at the Royal Albert Hall, I was reminded of “Being Good Isn’t Good Enough” — a song from the 1967 Styne, Comden and Green musical Hallelujah, Baby!. It’s a song about how much harder you have to work when people like you are underrepresented as how talent alone is rarely enough.
When you don’t see others like yourself succeeding in a particular field, ambition can quietly narrow. You may begin to circumscribe what you aim for, consciously or not. As the saying goes, “If you can’t see it, you can’t be it.”
At the same time, others may underestimate you. Decision-makers may hesitate, not because of evidence, but because their own bias tells them it’s a “risk.” They haven’t seen someone like you succeed before, so caution feels justified. In some cases, deeper-rooted prejudices prevent people from being given a fair chance at all. Meanwhile, competitors may benefit from advantages beyond your reach — established networks, assumed credibility, or confidence reinforced by representation.
Black Lives in Music puts it succinctly: “Talent is distributed evenly, but opportunities are not.”
Last night’s concert made that imbalance visible, and powerfully challenged it.
The Chineke! Foundation Prom showcased Black and ethnically diverse talent in both orchestral performance and composition. The program was cleverly constructed, combining well-known works from the classical repertoire — including one reimagined in a jazz arrangement — with a contemporary piece infused with the rhythm and energy of a Trinidad carnival. The result was expansive, joyful, and unmistakably alive.
Chineke!’s Founder, Chichi Nwanoku CBE, explained the organization’s purpose to the Royal Albert Hall audience:
[Chineke! is all about] bringing people and cultures and genres together. When I created Chineke!, it came from the very simple belief that music and passion know no boundaries, wherever you are from, and also out of a huge desire to want to see a more inclusive and diverse concert stage — not just in the UK but around the world. And I don’t just mean the people who are playing, but the music that we play, that we can all share this incredible art together. If you look at the stage, it reflects our whole society.
They absolutely nailed it.
In just under ten years, Chineke!’s work has already achieved so much — not only in who is visible on stage, but in what orchestral music can encompass, celebrate, and represent.
You have two opportunities to see Chineke! at the Southbank Centre this season — run, don’t walk. But beyond that, there are opportunities every day, inside our own organizations.
Every organization makes choices — about whose potential is recognized, whose voices are amplified, and whose “risk” is worth taking. Enriching our organizations with diverse perspectives and talent is not an abstract ideal. It’s a practical, creative, and human one.
Because when opportunity begins to match talent, the art becomes richer for everyone.