Season 3

KICF, Kenya International Chamber Music Festival, now in its 3rd season, brings together musicians from across the world to collaborate, to create, and to perform throughout Kenya. In January 2024, faculty and students (45) settled into the beauty of the Tafaria Castle & Center for the Arts campus. We held a weekend workshop that was inclusive for students of all sorts (Jan 5-7) and then our seminar brought students from an ensemble entitled Future Faces from Jan 8-13. Our days began with eurhythmics and body work, morning coachings and rehearsals, afternoon lessons and activities (horseback riding!), evening lectures and chamber orchestra rehearsals. Each group performed chosen repertoire (from Rhiannon Giddens to Mozart 387) along with one Kikuyu work arranged for quartet. We performed at Tafaria for the public as well as for two local schools, in Gilgil at the Pembroke International House School, and then finished with two performances in Nairobi (Mukuru Slum Rubens Centre and Alliance Francaise) as well as a masterclass at the Kenya Conservatoire of Music. We even snuck in an afternoon with all students at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy - a spectacular day. The campus was reverberating with ideas and sounds as we continued our work toward carving sustainable and original pathways for participants to follow. KICF continues to embolden and shape the inner worlds of its participants while leaving a lasting imprint on all involved.