Kenya’s Ghetto Classics Orchestra a cradle of confidence in a crowded slum
Eva de Vries, The Age, Feb. 25, 2017
Korogocho, Kenya: Classical music is often associated with chic halls and musicians in three-piece suits. But this is not always the case.
Every Sunday, the Ghetto Classics Orchestra plays in Korogocho, a crowded Nairobi slum. For a few hours, dozens of children leave their difficult world behind and become one with the music.
Between the stone music building and a small, fenced football field, Miquel, 14, practises his tuba. Behind the corrugated wall is a massive dump site that reeks of rotting trash. Screeching marabous circle overhead and plumes of smoke ascend into the sky. It’s hard to imagine a more striking contrast than a gentlemanly young tubist tooting out scales amid such squalor.
“I’m in love with the low and powerful sound,” he says. “In about 10 years, I want to have my own tuba.”
We are at St Johns Church, an open arena-shaped building painted with colourful murals of Bible scenes. The church is in the middle of Korogocho, home to nearly 200,000 people, aptly named “crowded shoulder-to-shoulder” in Swahili.
Kenyan classical music lover and passionate singer Elisabeth Njoroge founded the Ghetto Classics orchestra. Starting out with a motley crew of 14 singing kids in 2008, the project has flourished into a bona fide youth orchestra, today counting more than 80 young musicians.
According to Njoroge, it is not easy to grow up here. Slum dwellers face rampant poverty, crime, drugs and alcohol abuse, a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS and domestic violence.
“Making music gives these children the chance to devote their time to something pleasant, forget their problems and meet their peers in a safe place,” she says.
It is busy in the church. Men and women are singing loudly and children are running around in their Sunday best. When the service is finished around noon, the musicians rush to the music room, where the costly instruments are safely stored.
Ready for rehearsal, they carry the violins, saxophones and cellos one by one to the recently emptied church. Friends Lewinsky, 18, and Linet, 17, play the first tunes on their clarinets.
“I am looking forward to this every week. When we play together, it feels like we are one big family,” Linet smiles.
Njoroge is convinced that making music also helps the children in the long run. The discipline they develop in rehearsal equips them to better deal with the tremendous challenges they face every day. They discover their talents, believe in themselves, learn how to work together in teams and concentrate better at school.
“If you can master an instrument, you can master life. I honestly believe that,” Njoroge says.
Esther Wendy, 13, a slender girl with a bright blue dress and sparkling eyes, proves Njoroge’s point: “When I am able to play my flute well, I think I can learn more things. I hope to be a doctor one day,” she says.
On the other side of the fence, life is chaotic. Bleating goats wander in the street, while street sellers peddle car parts, clothes and chapatis (flatbread) along the side of the road.
We are almost run over by a hooting boda boda (motor taxi). While a few musicians are showing me around their neighbourhood, they explain why music is so important to them.
“It keeps me occupied. Without my violin, I would probably hang around here on the streets, just like most boys my age,” says Julius, 18. Nelson, 16, has felt happier since he started playing the cello. His ambitions extend far beyond Korogocho.
“I want to become the best cellist in the world and perform in other countries.”
His friend Daniel, 17, felt insecure about himself before he took up the clarinet. “I was never really good at anything, but now I discovered my talent. I feel strong when I play.”
The whole afternoon, the children play spread out in different rooms and practise in small groups. In a classroom with a panoramic view over the dump site, the string musicians practise their scales over and over again.
On the ground floor, the wind instruments pipe out their pieces. Once in a while, the cacophony of the football field dominates the notes: “Goaaaal!”
Around four o’clock everybody gathers in the middle of the church: the moment they’ve been working towards all day has come.
Passionately directed by conductor Brian, one of the first members of the orchestra, they play pieces from German composer Hans Zimmer or songs by South African singer Miriam Makeba.
Concentrated eyes follow the sheet music. The energy is tangible. Njoroge watches her orchestra, she sometimes claps her hands and gives a thumbs-up with a proud smile.
“In two weeks, they will perform at the international jazz festival here in Nairobi. So you see, this project brings these kids to places they’ve never dreamed of,” she says.
Various scientific studies have proven that music has a positive impact on children’s intelligence and social skills.
Making music together strengthens discipline and team spirit, which gives the youth a more positive self image.
According to American neurologist Gottfried Schlaugh, music also positively impacts young minds. With his research, he demonstrated that the connection between the two sides of the brain becomes stronger when children play music regularly, thus improving performance in other areas of life.
