New location in Juja

We are excited to announce that we have expanded to a second location, partnering with Pendo Amani School and El Sistema Sweden in Juja! Here, our teachers have begun teaching a small class of violins and our newest addition: flute!

Giving Tuesday

Today is Giving Tuesday! Take a minute to check out our funding options page on our website and see how you can help support us!

Fundraising Concert Tonight!

El Sistema Kenya's fundraising concert is tonight at ISK at 6:30pm. We are not explicitly selling tickets but are accepting donations with a recommended entry fee, so please feel free to donate what you can! We are looking forward to performing pieces by Shostakovich, Schubert and Mozart! If you cannot attend but would like to contribute to our fundraising to help us continue teaching children in Kenya, please message us!

Fundraising Concert Postponed due to Pope's Visit!

Due to Pope Francis' visit to Kenya this week, we have moved our fundraising concert from Thursday the 26th to Monday the 30th. Same time (6:30pm), same location (International School of Kenya). Bring your friends and enjoy some good food, great string quartet music, and a talk about El Sistema! If you can't make it, please do share our poster and concert information with those you know who may be interested. Also, the entry fee is a "suggested donation." You may donate any amount you would like to this wonderful cause!

D'Addario Foundation Grant

We are very excited to officially announce that we have been gifted with a grant from The D'Addario Foundation! We are feeling very blessed and honored to have received this gift and are so thankful for their generosity! We are looking forward to sharing even more with our children here in Kenya!

El Sistema Kenya article published in Finland

Henrica, our double bass guest from Finland in June, wrote a very nice article about music in Kenya which was published in Finland.  Once we get an English translation we will update this page!

Thank you, Kazuha!

Many thanks to Kazuha for the generous gift of a violin to the students! We have grown so much in less than one year!

Kazuha and some of our students

We love having vistors!

We love having visitors - musical and non-musical! Last week, Dorcas Kabui visited us and said, "It was surely a blessing to have spent time with these kids giving them hope and nurturing their talents. They make you realize that yes there's soo much in life you take for granted that you should be grateful for. Go girls!"

Visitor from Finland

We were recently mentioned in a blog post regarding a visit to Kenya from Finnish double bassist Henrica Fagerlund-Sippoin. We look forward to what she can teach our teacher trainees about the double bass and some performances of the instrument for our children!

Henrica lähtee tapaamaan Bezuneshia ja Elizabethia

Concert at Hillcrest International School

A few months ago, we were invited to perform at Hillcrest International School's 50th Anniversary concert.  Our young violinists worked hard to tackle their first three-part piece: French Folk Song, and also prepared a "funky" version of a few of the Twinkle Variations which were a hit with the audience!

We were surprised to learn later that part of the funds raised for this concert were dedicated to us to support El Sistema Kenya!  Many, many thanks go to Hillcrest International School for their support!

You can watch a performance of our short opening of the concert here.

New Partner: Youth Orchestra of the Americas!

We are very excited to announce our new partnership with the YOA (Youth Orchestra of the Americas) Global Leaders Program! We look forward to working with them starting in 2016!

Cello Donation: May the 4th Be With You!

Many, many thanks go to the Martyn Donaldson Music Trust for their generous gift of cellos for our students.  Our teacher trainees had a blast trying them out in the masterclass today and we can't wait to start teaching cello in Kawangware!

L-R: Faith, Bernadette and Mumbi

A Rainy Easter Concert

Today we held our second concert for the Kawangware community before the Easter holidays.  Over 1500 students and people from the area attended!  As the rainy season has just started in Kenya, we could not perform in the school courtyard, but thankfully we could use the balcony overhang around the courtyard and avoid getting the violins wet!

Our advanced group performed French Folk Song, Lightly Row and Song of the Wind.  Today was also the debut of our newest beginner group of 40 children who performed the Twinkle variations!

Concentrating hard on their performance!

Happy New Year!

December update! 

After school closed for the holidays, we returned to the US to share the message of ESK more broadly. We were incredibly fortunate to receive kind donations from several individuals and organizations, including Meyer Music in Grand Rapids, the People to People Project in Pennsylvania, and the Fieldston School in New York City.  

Each donated several violins and violas, meaning we increased our instruments from 8 to 26! We were equally fortunate to have a number of friends traveling from the US to Kenya in January, meaning we were able to bring back all of our instruments without additional cost. 

Growing by leaps and bounds: January and February

Once school resumed in January, we were able to welcome another 36 students to our program, bringing us to a total of 60 young musicians. By mid-February several of our first students were advanced enough to become “helpers,” teaching the beginners.  This has been a big help and will enable us to grow even faster, once we have more instruments. 

Because of the speed of our students’ progress and the success of our first concert, we have now been invited to perform at other schools, churches, and community centers around Nairobi. In March, we expect 3 concerts, with one coming up at Moi Avenue Primary tomorrow afternoon! 

We also received more great news in February: the Martyn Donaldson Trust in the UK decided to donate $750 to help us grow. This means we can purchase our first cellos, which we are very excited about.

Students from our new groups started in January

Looking forward

We’re more excited than ever to grow our program in 2015. We’ve already been approached by teachers in our Primary School, who say that over 200 students have asked if they can take part in our program. We also have been approached by several other schools and organizations in Nairobi about setting up new programs. 

Our new goal is to find a source for more used instruments, so we can expand to more children. All our teachers are volunteering, so our expenses currently remain low. Once we receive another 30 instruments, we will reach enough students to approach larger organizations to provide longer-term funding. This will allow us to pay ourselves and give ESK the ability to expand and set a foundation for future.   If you are interested in helping to fund El Sistema Kenya, this will go a long ways towards helping us expand our program beyond Kawangware to other areas in Nairobi and across the country, spreading the joy of music and creating positive change in these communities.

Thanks again for all your support and please let us know if you are ever in Kenya and able to see us in action!