Girma Yifrashewa: Piano maestro brings classics to rural Ethiopian girls' school

The transformative power of music was recently illustrated when the first notes were played on a piano at a girls’ boarding school in rural Ethiopia.

This writer was invited to the Pharo School in Homosha, almost 500 kilometres from the capital, Addis Ababa, on September 29, 2024, to witness the inauguration of the piano at a concert by the internationally acclaimed Ethiopian maestro Girma Yifrashewa.

“I have performed at venues around the world, but it was special to travel to this part of my own country for the first time to inspire a new generation of musicians,” Yifrashewa told the BD Life at the school.

“My dream is to impact my fellow Africans through music and to share my experiences with young people,” said the easygoing pianist who was accompanied by his 17-year-old son.

Brook Girma who has taken after his father, played a piano arrangement of the score to the animated film series How To train Your Dragon as an opening act during the ceremony attended by the students and invited guests.

The gleaming Samick model had come a long way to this school in north-west Ethiopia, that was established in 2018 for Grade 9-12 girls (high school). In June 2024, the staff of Pharo Foundation in the UK and their children held a charity concert in London that raised 4,500 pounds (Sh760,624) to cover the costs of buying an upright piano and transporting it to Ethiopia.

After the cargo arrived in Addis, there were bureaucratic delays at customs for weeks, and once that was sorted, a fresh challenge emerged.

The road from the capital to Homosha is frequently closed due to insecurity caused by rebel attacks and so the piano was stored at the Pharo Foundation offices in Addis for much of August.

It is only towards the end of that month when it was safely transported to its final destination and a piano tuner flown in from Addis to set it up.

Yifrashewa’s ability to overcome adversity in the course of his musical journey resonates with the challenges faced in delivering the piano that he was invited to inaugurate.

Born in Addis Ababa in 1967, he started music by playing the stringed Ethiopian traditional harp, the krar (resembles the nyatiti of Western Kenya, but has fewer strings).

He first played the piano when he joined the renowned Yared School of Music in Addis at the age of 16. After studying the instrument for four years, he was awarded a scholarship to join the Sofia State Conservatory of Music in Bulgaria.

The upheaval that led to the fall of Communist Party in 1989, forced Yifrashewa to flee to Italy “without a penny”. A Catholic nun in Rome provided him with shelter, and as luck would have it, arranged for him to practice on a piano at the Christian Brothers, an Irish Catholic Congregation. In 1991, with the support of this community, he returned to Bulgaria and eventually graduated with a Master of Music (Piano) in 1994.

He established his career as a solo pianist in Bulgaria before returning to Ethiopia in 1995, with his first piano, thanks to a priest of the Christian Brothers in Rome who bought him the instrument and shipped it to Ethiopia.

“In my time, going back 40 years, we didn’t have the privilege to get instruments, but these girls are lucky, getting this piano and having me to promote the skill will give them a great sense of responsibility,” reflected Yifrashewa.

He chose a concert programme at the school that started with well-known Beethoven piece Fur Elise before turning to The Homeless Wanderer by iconic Ethiopian composer and pianist, Emahoy Tsegue Mariam Guebrou. 

Yifrashewa then played four of his own compositions: The Shepherd with the Flute, Ambassel, Chewata and Elita before concluding with selections from his favourite piano composers American, Louis Moreau Gottschalk and Polish virtuoso, Frederic Chopin.

“The selection was to create variety for the girls to get a taste of Ethiopian and international compositions,” he explained. “When people hear classical music, they say “it is not ours” but music is an international language and so understanding it presents opportunity and exposure.”

Yifrashewa has performed at concerts around Africa, Europe, Australia and the US where he made his debut at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York in June 2024, during a show titled Peace unto Ethiopia: An Anthology of Original Works and Tributes.

His latest album My String Will, released in 2023, was recorded with Bulgarian musicians and the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra.

The school Principal Benson Majiwa said the gesture of presenting the school with a piano was transformative for the girls: “Having a piano and hearing a different type of music from what they are used to, exposes them to the world out there. We also have a new curriculum which emphasises the creative arts and therefore the piano is a fantastic resource.”

“It is important how you start with the children so that they can learn the basics then keep improving as they go on,” he said, offering to return to the Pharo School, Homosha, to conduct master classes for the students.

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