Saturday, March 1, 2014
Custodian of Kenyan music marks 70 years
Guest conductor Vijay Upadhyaya of Vienna, Austria, does what he knows
best at the Kenya Conservatoire of Music orchestra during the music
school’s 70th anniversary concert at the Braeburn Theatre in Nairobi, on
February 22, 2014. PHOTO | Margaretta wa Gacheru
NATION MEDIA GROUP
The 70th anniversary gala of the Kenya
Conservatoire of Music was celebrated at the Braeburn Theatre last
weekend with performances of everything from Mozart and Beethoven to
traditional indigenous Kenyan music and dance.
The key
to the gala’s success was the 11-year-old Conservatoire Symphony
Orchestra under the baton of the Vienna-based conductor Vijay Upadhyaya.
Preparations
for the celebrations have been under way for many months, according to
Conservatoire director Corinne Towett, who has been running Kenya’s
leading music school for the past six years. Originally a piano student
at the school, Corrine went on to teach there; but when the job of MD
came up, she applied and got it.
The first African
woman to get the position, Corrine isn’t the first indigenous Kenyan to
be director in a field that historically has been filled with expatriate
Europeans.
Prior to her taking up the post, Atigala
Luvai held the post. It was he who realised the school needed its own
orchestra. And so, in the first days of the 21st century, he inaugurated
the conservatoire’s own symphony orchestra.
Made up of
practically all Kenyan students of the school, the conservatoire’s
orchestra reflects the changing complexion of Kenyan musical culture.
For,
while we may think the singular musical interest that young Kenyans
have is in hip hop and rap, the conservatoire’s orchestral team of
musicians are practically all indigenous Kenyans in their 20s.
YOUNG MUSICIANS
“There’s
one 14-year-old flutist and one cellist in his early 40s,” said
violinist Charles Ralak, the ‘leader’ of the orchestra, on Friday night
just moments before the final rehearsal under the baton of the
India-born guest conductor, Professor Upadhyaya, at Kenya Cultural
Centre, home of KCM.
It was that youthful enthusiasm
that infused the entire gala performance with grace, sparks of humour
and electrifying vitality last Saturday night.
During
both halves of the gala showcase, the first was filled with duets,
solos, the award-winning Nairobi Chamber choir and even a song from the
conservatoire’s first musical production Seventeen.
The
second half featured the symphony orchestra that was so well-received
that ‘Vijay’ (as he is fondly known) had to conduct not one but two
encores.
Of course, the Saturday night audience was filled with family, friends and invited guests.
But
the conductor, who had only had one week to rehearse with the
orchestra, also elicited an obvious endorsement from the audience; given
the 47-year-old chairman of Vienna University’s music department exuded
warmth, interactive energy and an indisputable affection for both the
music and the orchestra.
Brought to Kenya courtesy of
the Austrian Embassy, Professor Upadhyaya first came to conduct the
Conservatoire orchestra together with St Paul’s choir a year ago when
the church’s choirmaster requested the embassy to provide them with a
top professional conductor.
The rationale of the
request was simple, explained Corrine. It was because the choir was
intent on singing a Mozart mass, and Mozart was of course an Austrian.
So the embassy approached Vienna University where Upadhyaya conducts as
many as nine orchestras and three choirs (with support from four
assistants). But he had no problem taking time out for the Kenyans since
he feels strongly that the Kenya Conservatoire is destined for
greatness.
“It is one of the few music schools of its kind in Africa, and it’s getting stronger by the year,” the conductor said.
“And
one of the most exciting aspects of the school is that it has just
expanded its teaching reservoir to include the oboe, French horn and
bassoon, as well as several indigenous Kenyan instruments.”
So
far, only one Kenyan, Alex Waweru, has taken up the call to begin
learning the bassoon. But despite only playing for the past one year,
Waweru still stole the show during a hilarious spoof on the seriousness
of classically-trained musicians.
Playing a fumbling
buffoon in a duet with Nathaniel Gachukia, Waweru’s silliness brought
the house down with amusement, only to give way to a brilliant solo
piano performance by Gachukia, who was just one of many Conservatoire
students who are changing the face of musical excellence in Kenya today.
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