A Voice Recital in Eldoret!

This blog is a continuation of the previous blog.  Where I left off, Jacki and I were preparing for a voice recital in a church in downtown Eldoret. (See most recent post) 

Jacki and my 4 days together were a whirlwind, and she was quite the trooper. We spent time at Amani shelter working on the choral piece with the kids, and many more hours collaborating and meshing our performance styles. I'm so grateful for outstanding musicians that can jump in, sight read difficult music, and make it happen. Without her, I doubt I'd have the chance to give a recital with that level of music, because the church musicians and most people around here don't read sheet music, they just play by ear.  I'd found a church that'd allow us to use the space for the recital. This isn't the kind of "church" that an American would picture. It was one room, on the second floor of a row of crowded buildings in town. They said we could come in the day before the recital, have the room to ourselves to rehearse and get a feel for acoustics, the set up, transitions etc.  All the necessary dress rehearsal type of things. 

When we got to the recital space the day before the recital, we found an interesting scene.  A LOUD radio broadcast of preaching was playing, and there were many Kenyans in the room. Some were reading the bible, some were praying, some socializing, and one lady in particular seemed to be having a rough day. She was kneeling in the corner, rocking back and forth and praying/yelling/crying. Hmmmmm sooooooo I'm just wondering, can I sing?!  I went around the room and greeted everyone. In Kenyan culture it is  rude if you don't introduce yourself and shake hands with people. And you can't greet just one person, you greet everyone.  So I introduced myself, explained that I'd be singing a classical voice recital the following day, and asked if they minded if I practiced now.  Everyone was kind and answered that they didn't mind.  The next question was the radio. I asked if it was possible to turn off the radio so that I could sing.  The man I asked was very hesitant, and said that he wanted to keep it on. He also said, "The other thing is, we still have people at work in nearby offices, so can you just sing quietly so you don't disturb them?" Seriously?! How am I supposed to get a feel for the acoustics?! It was an interesting dress rehearsal, that's for sure.  Once I started singing they did end up turning the radio down a bit so that helped.  We got the chairs and piano all set up how we wanted them,  and we were told they would remain that way for the next day.

WRONG. When we arrived an hour before the recital was to start the next day, all the chairs we'd set up had been removed, and were stacked at the front of the room. People were standing on the chairs and using them as a ladder to change the hung drappery at the front of the room. WHY it had to be that afternoon of all times that they chose to tear down the decorations and completely re-do them, I have no idea. So, we kept our cool, and tried to get some details of when things would be ready. I had put up posters advertising a start time of 4:30pm, knowing full well that that meant that my Kenyan friends would arrive somewhere between 5 and 5:15, and maybe we would begin by 5:30pm, an hour later.  So we patiently waited while they continued to hang new colored drapes.  Non-Kenyans began to trickle in around 4:30pm, and more and more people by 5pm. By 5:15pm or so we had somewhere around 80 people! Several street kids came in and were eyeing the cookies and punch that we'd set up at the back of the room for after the recital. I went up to them, introduced myself, and asked their names. They told me their names, and said they wanted cookies. I firmly said, "Ngoja kidogo. Nitaimba, halafu, tutakula sweeti." I think I said, "Wait a little bit. I am going to sing, and then, we will eat sweets." Those two little kids sat through the entire recital!! I thought for sure they would try to take some cookies and book it out of there, but sure enough they waited. I learned later that a friend, one of the women who works for the Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC) program here, saw them sniffing glue from bottles hidden up their sleeves during the recital. She went up to them, grabbed the bottles and threw them away while giving a stern talking to the two 10-year-olds. All during my Clara Schumann piece. Crazy, crazy things happen here. But hey, I'm glad they heard some classical music, got their glue taken away from them, and ended the day with some cookies and juice. 

So anyway, the recital was a success, and a lot of fun. I was so honored to have friends from the Sally Test Pediatric Center, Neema Orphanage, Amani Shelter, and many others associated with the medical partnership all in attendance. 

Emily, Mary and Sarah from the Amani Shelter, plus Adi, one of my friends' daughters who joined our choir at the last minute, singing Yesu, kwetu ni Rafiki (What a Friend we have in Jesus.)