Richmond's Chi-chi Nwanoku, who is the founder of the first professional orchestra in Europe to be made up of a majority of black and minority ethnic musicians, received a CBE today - Friday.

She said the honour – awarded for her services to music and diversity - 'rubber stamps' the work she is doing to diversify classical music.

Chi-chi, who has lived in Richmond borough for 30 years, has been a Principal bassist, chamber and soloist with many of Europe's leading orchestras.

She founded the Chineke! Foundation to celebrate inclusion and diversity in the musical genre.

The Foundation's two orchestras and its community engagement work has been instrumental in creating opportunities for talented black and ethnically diverse musicians through concerts, commissioning new works, championing historical composers, and establishing scholarships with major UK conservatoires.

In 2020, the Chineke! Junior Orchestra featured to great acclaim on Britain's Got Talent. The young musicians, aged 11-22, from across the country received rave reviews for their performance of a musical medley of classical and contemporary pieces.

In 2012 Barrie Gavin directed a documentary film about Chi-chi's career, Tales from the Bass Line, and in 2018 she featured on BBC Radio 4 Desert Island Discs. As a broadcaster Chi-chi has presented documentaries for BBC Radio 3 and 4, Scala Radio and Classic FM.

Chi-chi featured in the powerlist of Britain's 100 Most Influential Black People in 2019, 2020 and 2021, and also in 100 Great Black Britons.

Following the event at Buckingham Palace, she told the PA news agency: "This sort of occasion rubber stamps the knowledge that I can carry on doing the work that I'm doing which is opening that door and creating a platform of opportunity in the classical music world to those otherwise previously unseen."

The Chineke! Orchestra is now a resident orchestra at the Southbank Centre and is about to embark on its first tour of North America.

It has also just been made a National Portfolio Organisation for the first time.