"I would love people to look at an orchestra of any colour and not see it as a novelty.
I'd like to see all orchestras that don't have members of diversity begin to have them. Once it begins to happen it means we're making progress – all of us.
Sir Simon Rattle has written a ringing endorsement. is not only an exciting idea but a profoundly necessary one," he has declared."The kind of idea which is so obvious that you wonder why it is not already in place.
The kind of idea which could deepen and enrich classical music in the UK for generations.
One of those uncomfortable truths about classical music is that most symphony orchestras in Europe still consist mostly of white and white-Asian people.
Some of the players are just amazing." Most are in their twenties and thirties; some are older; a few are still teenagers.
"Bangladeshi, Indian, Sri Lankan, Mauritian, Iranian, Caribbean, African, you name it, they're in my 60-piece orchestra.
But the ultimate inspiration struck Nwanoku at the performance last year by the Kinshasa Symphony Orchestra at the Southbank Centre.
"One thing I noticed at that concert," she says, "was the incredulity on the faces of the philanthropists and politicians in the audience, looking at a stage filled primarily with black people." It was with the idea of changing this response that the Chineke! She found immediate support around the classical music industry for the idea, with plenty of offers of rehearsal space, collaboration and concerts; and, though having never fundraised before, she sourced £100,000 towards the costs.