Kenya’s very own great classical musicians

The appeal of classical music can be seen from a wide range of ensembles that currently liven up concerts at various venues in the country. Over the years, Kenya has produced some very accomplished choral singers, conductors and musicians.

Today, we profile some of the performers who are succeeding in attracting new audiences for classical music and deepening their connections with current fans.

Elizabeth Njoroge

Easily the face of classical music in Kenya, this fan of composers like Verdi, Rachmaninoff was bold enough to quit the comfort of a job in the corporate world to follow her passion for music.

Having grown up with the piano as a constant companion, she excelled at the Kenya Music Festival and attended the Conservatoire of Music in Nairobi.

Njoroge studied Biochemistry at university but music was always her calling and upon returning home in 2003 after 14 years living in the UK and Canada, she started holding recitals and publishing an online newsletter called Classics.

Her foundation, Art of Music, has made tangible steps in the promotion of classical performance to previously unchartered territory with a project called Ghetto Classics in the slum area of Korogocho.

This has evolved into a talented choir and brass band of youthful musicians who rely on donated or borrowed instruments. Just last week, they performed with distinction at the National Music Festival in Mombasa.

Another of her popular achievements is the partnership with the corporate world for the annual Safaricom Classical Fusion Festival that started in 2009 and has seen performances from a variety of Kenyan acts on the same stage with guests like the world-renowned Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Ken Wakia

Wakia is well-known as a music teacher and conductor with the Nairobi Music Society and the Kenya Conservatoire of Music.

He studied music at Kenyatta University with Annetta Miller as his mentor, and then joined the Miami University in Florida, USA to major in choral conducting. He taught music at Precious Blood High School and developed the music curriculum for the Africa Nazarene University.

Since starting the Nairobi Chamber Chorus in 2005, Wakia has mentored more than 70 musicians who are leading singers and teachers around the country today.

The choir has also won many admirers in Kenya and during their overseas tours for their creative application of African rhythms to Western classical styles. Their most recent performance was a thrilling joint concert with the Festival Singers of Florida, US just last week in Nairobi.

When not conducting his choir, Wakia works as the Cultural and Educational Affairs Specialist at the US Embassy in Nairobi.

Rhoda Ondeng

Rhoda is an international opera star whose career spans over 20 years performing with orchestras and musicians in North America, Asia and Europe.

She was first spotted as a 15-year-old student at Limuru Girls School in 1973 when she played the lead female role in Kenya’s first ever opera, “Ondieki the Fisherman”.

The opera was revived in 2012 when Rhoda together with a cast including the Nairobi orchestra and Kenyatta University Choir revived that famous opera with very well received performances at the Braeburn Theatre, Nairobi.

The Norwegian-based operatic soprano performed at the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for the late Prof Wangari Maathai. She founded the Baraka Opera Production Company and has been using her artistic links in Kenya and Norway to build cooperation between classical musicians in both countries.

Zak Njoroge

Zachary Njoroge Kariithi, better known by the stage name Zak, is a 25-year-old trained opera singer. Zak has been playing the piano since the age of 12.

His early interaction with classical music was through listening to tapes owned by his father, himself a church choir conductor.

Zak’s voice is a lyric baritone that has a lighter, smoother edge than an ordinary baritone and is commonly heard in music theatre.

In 2008, he was one of the two singers from Kenya, selected to join a choir of more than 80 singers from around the world to perform at the opening ceremony of the Olympics in China.

He studied music performance at the Buchman Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv, Israel, an institution established by the legendary maestro, Zubin Mehta and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in opera performance in 2012.

He has taken part in master classes in Europe with famous accompanists and was winner of the third prize at the 2011 Hilde Zadek International competition in Vienna, Austria.

One of his highlights was performing with the Buchmann Mehta School of Music Symphony Orchestra as a soloist conducted by the great Zubin Mehta himself.

He has also performed with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra and as a soloist and at the famous Carnegie Hall in New York under the direction of his college head Professor Zeev Dorman. Though he spends a lot of time away from the country, he still holds on to the dream of seeing Kenya get its first opera house.

The Bright Prospects

There are many young talents emerging in classical music in Kenya. The Ghetto Classics is a fine example of mentorship of the next generation of classical performers as the young musicians benefit from tutors from the Kenya Conservatoire of Music

During the recent Commonwealth Games in Scotland, musicians from Kenya, Scotland and India held a joint project called Scokendia.

Kenya was represented by percussionist Nyakio Munyinyi, composer and clarinetist Philip Maina, cellist and violinist Brian Sempele, Joseph Chege trombonist and clarinetist Celine Sharmim.

Violinist Etta Madete was chosen to join the Commonwealth Youth Orchestra and Choir, which played concerts in Glasgow and London leading up to the Commonwealth Games.

Schools are obviously at the heart of music development and Precious Blood Riruta is nurturing an orchestral mentoring programme for voice, piano, clarinet and saxophone.

The Safaricom Youth Orchestra was started this year comprising over 60 musicians aged between 10 and 18 and tutored by Elizabeth Njoroge through a 10-week curriculum with the ambition of creating a world-class orchestra.