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!