Last weekend, the Nairobi Orchestra played two concerts. (Heather is the beautiful oboe player.)Typically, various embassies or airlines pay for players to be flown from Europe to perform. That was true this time - the cellist is Gemma, a young lady from England. Maya, a lady from Italy was a soprano soloist. The conductor was flown from Austria.
Kenyans represent about 15% of the orchestra (when this post was written).
11 comments:
I had chills just pulling up these photos on your blog. Beautiful, Paul!!! Thanks for sharing and happy Thanksgiving!
I would love to hear the Nairobi Orchestra...
We just saw a great performance here in Stuttgart so seeing this post generated some interest for me. I was impressed by some of the shots you have. There's something really fascinating about musicians. A great symphony of Mozart can really get you to another level.
tere tere
i would love to join the orchestra or join a group that does classical music.i have no previus experience or money but i just have an interest in classical music.I can be reached at tedptah@yahoo.com.please someone give me something.
The reason why Kenyans represent only 15% of the orchestra is not because classical music is not natural African music form; the reason is because it costs a lot a money for the average Kenyan to buy an instrument and take classes! Regge, Hip Hop, RnB, Jazz, Salsa and Rap are not considered "natural African music form" but are extremely popular in Kenya as well as other parts of Africa!
Thanks for posting the pics - I missed the Nairobi Orchestra concerts I used to attend when growing up in Kenya - I think the reason that there aren't many Kenyans in the Orchestra is one of class(money) - I live in the US now and it's the same, many of the working class and middle class people I have met can't read music and don't go to the orchestra. I think in some countries the government can prioritize music education but if the government doesn't do that then only the rich folks will play classical music and there aren't that many rich folk in Kenya.
Just want to give you all an update - something is being done about this now. I'll spend July and August (2009) to help put together the first instrumental music program... strings will be added soon and the government is preparing to adapt arts programs for all the schools throughout the country: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3F1kfdtri8
Feel free to contact me for more information.
Stanford Thompson
www.StanfordThompson.com
sltstanford@gmail.com
Not Natural for Africans??? Then who am I?
Commenting people: I updated this post to reflect a less narrow viewpoint.
Update: As of the end of the 2016/2017 season, "of the sixty players on stage, around forty of those were Kenyan..." (courtesy of Claire Hollis, a member of the Nairobi Orchestra Board).
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