Shirlene Obara, 17-year-old violinist, is a picture of poise and confidence with her instrument though her calm demeanor masks a bundle of nerves before every performance.
“I am usually a nervous wreck. You might not notice it, but it is there,” she confessed to the BDLife ahead of her concert at Nairobi’s Muthaiga Country Club last night (Thursday August 29th).
“Yes, I am nervous and that is good because it means I care.”
Shirlene who is a student at Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester, UK, started playing the violin at the age of 8.
“I joined the music club at Consolata Primary School, Nairobi, to try something new as the year before I was in the chess club,” she recalls. “I asked to play the piano, but the class was full and so were all other classes for all other instruments, except the violin. I got handed the violin. Done.”
In 2017 at the age of 10, she made her debut at the Kenya Music Festivals, winning the Advanced Violin category, a feat that she would replicate for three consecutive years.
“It was not winning that helped me gain confidence with the instrument,” she asserts. “It was the multiple performance opportunities and knowing that a panel was judging my mastery of it.”
She also participated in the Kenya Young Musician competition, winning the Junior category in 2018 and 2019.
In November 2018, Shirlene successfully auditioned for a place at the Chetham’s School of Music, the largest specialist music school in the UK, and was accepted to begin her studies there in September 2019.
Her violin teacher is one of the UK’s most accomplished violinists Gabriella “Gabi” Jones, herself an alumnus of the same school.
“When I joined, I was utterly shocked to find children younger than me who could play better than I could,” she recalls. “This was slightly disheartening, but the important thing is to remember to run your own race.”
Shirlene plays regularly in the school’s lunchtime concerts, weekday recitals showcasing early career musicians, and is a member of the Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra, which has an outstanding international reputation as one of the finest young orchestras in the world.
At the end of each music course all term students perform orchestral works further enhancing her aptitude.
The training and exposure mean she has more time dedicated to the instrument as practice time is scheduled throughout the school day.
“Another thing is the increase in performance opportunities, masterclasses, performance classes and lunchtime concerts and being in a community of young musicians,” she observes.
Shirlene adds that teaching and instruction at her school is also at a very high level as all the teachers are professional musicians who are performing artists or have learnt the instruments to a very high degree.
She will complete her A-levels in 2025 and has set her sights on joining a conservatoire where she would be able to explore her violin-playing potential to the maximum.
Shirlene Obara, 17-year-old Kenyan violinist studying at the Chetham's School of Music, Manchester, UK.
Photo credit: Pool
“It is a continuous process. Even if I attain degrees, Masters or doctorates, there is still so much more that I can learn,” she says.
Meanwhile, the violinist has been showcasing her talents at other platforms, such as in 2022 when she performed at the Manchester Music Festival.
On June 29, 2024, she made her orchestral debut as a soloist with the Todmorden Orchestra of West Yorkshire, UK, under the baton of Benjamin Ellin playing the Violin Concerto No. 3 by French composer Camille Saint Saens.
“I learnt the importance of incorporating a metronome into my practice more frequently,” she says of that experience from the concert (a metronome is a device that produces a regular sound to help musicians keep a consistent tempo)
“As much as I do not like metronome practice, having a strong internal pulse and rhythm goes a long way because once the orchestra has a certain pulse for a moving section there is very little leeway for change.”
It was the same violin concerto that she performed last night accompanied by violinists David Ralak and Job Magutu, violist Rovel Salibio, Sally Davies on cello and Felix Rigg on piano.
“When I have performed here, it has been a work that I have just completed learning. It gives me the chance to bring what I have learnt back here at home,” she explains.
“I love the interplay between the soloist and the orchestra. The luscious melodies especially in parts of the first and second movement are beautiful. The third movement is fiery and has a very likeable danceable melody.”
Ken Mwiti, a violinist with the Enkare String Quartet in Nairobi describes Shirlene’s playing as fearless and energetic.
“When she played with us in 2023, we could feel her leadership through Allegro Brilliante by William Ten Have. She is also very deliberate her musical nuance, which makes it easy for the quartet to play with her,” he says. Shirlene returns to the UK at the end of the month to resume her studies after the summer break.
