The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus Volume 10 | Issue 35 | Number 4 | Aug 26, 2012

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Can the Miracle of Music Transform Africa’s Poverty? China’sGreat Pianist Yuan Sheng Performs in Kenyan Slum

Andre Vltchek

Introduction: In recent years controversy hascentered on Ch ina ’ s advance , bo thgeopolitically and economically, in the SouthChina Sea, East China sea, and in Africa. HereAndre Vltchek provides a look at anotherChinese “export” as virtuoso pianist YuanSheng brings his music to the slums of Kenyaand poses this question: can Africa follow in thefootsteps of Venezuela and Brazil in usingmusic as a way out of poverty for some of itsyouth? APJ.

The date is 15th of August 2012, the time - 11o’clock in the morning. The place – a primaryschool in one of the toughest slums on Africancontinent – Mukuru kwa Njenga in Nairobi,Kenya.

Although officially it is still a school holiday, the

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courtyard is overflowing with uniformedchildren from 7th and 8th grades: both boys andgirls, Christian and Muslim. Kids are talkingand giggling; they appear to be a little bitnervous in anticipation of the event that untilrecently would have been beyond their wildestimagination.

On the patio stands an upright Yamaha pianoborrowed from The Kenya Conservatory ofMusic. It is not like those grand Steinways usedin the music schools of rich countries, but it iswell tuned and it looks imposing and slightlyout of place in this humble school with brokenglass panels, protected by barbed wire. Andnext to the piano suddenly appears one ofAsia’s most celebrated contemporary concertpianists , Yuan Sheng.

Maestro Sheng or Professor Sheng (he is aprofessor of piano at the Central Conservatoryof Music in Beijing) has been my good friendfor many years. We met in New York Citywhere he graduated from the ManhattanSchool of Music and since then we have oftentraveled together by car all over China,discussing politics and arts.

Yuan has performed in over twenty countriesthroughout the world, recently in UK, Italy andthe United States. He was awarded the GoldMedal in the First Ignacio CervantesInternational Piano Competition held inHavana, Cuba in 2000.

And then, one day in January 2012 in Beijing,we began discussing the possibility of bringinghim to Nairobi, to see if what music has donefor years in Brazilian and Venezuelan slumscould be implemented in Kenya. Or at leastdreamed of.

The music is one of the great universallanguages. Outstanding performances caninspire, even change the lives of children indeprived communities. And Kenya, for decadesa shop window of African capitalism andstaunch Western ally, has been hosting some of

the most horrendous slums on the continent.

The idea impressed Yayoi Segi, East AfricanHead of Education for UNESCO. After havingworked for years in Latin America, Ms. Segihas been a determined advocate of non-formaleducation. She believes that “education is afundamental human right through which allother rights could be realized and education isall about equality of opportunities for all,regardless of who and where they are. Justbecause children are born and grow up in poorcountries, it does not mean that they should bedeprived of opportunities of learning througharts. In fact, we should never underestimatethe power of arts to cultivate and fulfillpotentials of children.” One of the initiativesthat had inspired her was the world-famousconcept of Venezuelan Youth Orchestras andtheir empowering effect on people from poorcommunities.

But Mozart and Cervantes in Mukuru kwaNjenga?

“Why not?” we said. Yuan recently collaboratedin my feature documentary film “One FlewOver Dadaab”, depicting life in the biggestrefugee camp in the world, housing mainly poorSomali refugees. Yuan recorded Bach’sGoldberg Variations and my brilliant film editorin Tokyo, Hata Takeshi, managed to link Bach’smusic with the tragedy in the middle of theNorthern Kenyan desert. It worked, it waspowerful, and we felt we should continue along

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the same lines, building bridges between thecontinents and cultures.

First the children sang. A few hundred of themarrived, many smiling, some confused aboutwhat was awaiting them. The songs theyperformed were mainly local Kenyancompositions.

Then Yuan spoke to them, explaining theessence of classical music, talking aboutMozart, Liszt, Chopin and Beethoven as if thosegiants were his old friends: people sufferingfrom pain, longing for love, forced to leavetheir beloved countries.

I had heard him speak once in Manila,Philippines and I knew that he would ‘connect’even with the dwellers of the toughest slum inNairobi. He had that gift, the ability toapproach, touch and convince an audience.

His love for the music has had deep roots –even in the past that preceded his birth. Afterthe revolution, his parents, both famousmusicians, were known to load their grandpiano and violin on the back of a truck andtravel all over China to play for people in ruralcommunities.

The children were listening as if he werereading to them from some thrilling fairytale.Still, many had no inkling of what was to come.

But then he began playing. First it was a

Mozart Sonata, followed by Liebestraum byLiszt, then Chopin’s Polonaise.

And it was stunning. It was easy to forget thatthe upright piano stood in a dusty courtyard.The performance was as brilliant as if it were inthe top concert hall somewhere in Beijing orNew York. Yuan Sheng did not cheat and thatwas obvious from the beginning. In the show ofinternationalism and solidarity, he was givingthese children from seemingly hopeless slumswhat he would give to some over-culturedaudience in a big city, maybe more, probablymuch more.

He spoke to them before each piece, as ifsharing his innermost thoughts. He spokeabout the pain Cervantes, a Cuban childprodigy who studied at the Paris Conservatoryin the 1860s, had felt before leaving Cuba, andabout the Afro-Cuban rhythms in the dances byLecuona. He introduced them to the magicaluniverse of Chinese composer Peixun Chen andhis “Autumn Moon”. And then, at the end, cameBeethoven's monumental Pathetique Sonata inits entirety and in all its splendor.

I observed and filmed initial bewilderment onthe faces of local children. All doubts weregone and it was clear that many of themunderstood clearly what was happening beforetheir eyes.

“Because I had never seen or listened to thepiano in a live performance before, I did not

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know what to expect! It sounds very beautiful. Iwould like to try to learn,” said 7th grader AnnaKamau right after the concert.

Peter Mwanzi, an 8th Grade student was visiblymoved: “I really enjoyed Mr. Sheng’sperformance. We were told that he is a worldfamous concert pianist and professor of music.I am sure he is! I am happy that he has come toour school, instead of going to so many othersin Nairobi. It makes me feel special!”

Ms. Segi spoke to the students and teachersafter the performance and was told howsuccessful the event was, how much more suchinitiatives are needed.

Mrs. Ciprien Wanjohi, Principal of Mukuru kwaNjenga Primary School was impressed andappreciative:

“We are really grateful to have had theopportunity of interacting with Mr. Shengtoday at this primary school. As you know, thisschool is located right in the heart of a toughurban slum. Students are born, grow up, liveand die in this place; they don’t know anythingabout what is going on outside the parametersof this poor slum. So having someone as greatas Mr. Sheng is an incredible exposure to thestudents here. Also I want to tell you that wehave a lot of talented students. There is onestudent who is a gifted runner and has recentlyrepresented Nairobi Province in an athleticevent. I am sure there are many more whom wedo not know who have great talent such as inthe field of music. Although means are alwayslimited, I do hope that this performance todayhas encouraged students to pursue music.”

At one point we left the school. One of theteachers became our guide. We walked foralmost an hour, surrounded by misery,hopelessness, open sewage, toxic spills,desperate eyes of women and children.

Yuan was shocked. He had never seen suchopen and screaming misery, not even in South

Africa, Egypt, or the Philippines where he hadbeen performing. But after a few minutes hebegan interacting with the people around him.Later he said:

“Coming to Kenya, I further realized that thereis so much social injustice in the world. Thestory goes often untold, the sufferingunrealized or unrecognized… It is unfortunatebut it is a fact that people at the bottom of thesocial ladder are deprived of education. Toequip them with the ultimate weapon for theimprovement of their lives, one has to guidethem toward the ability to study and to think.Therefore to me, education is the number oneissue that has to be addressed here.”

We were walking through a slum that couldeasily swallow even a group of people witharmed security guards. We were walkingunprotected, just with a teacher from the localschool. But soon we realized how revered theteacher was, how revered were educators ingeneral. We were safe with him. And when thepeople learned that Yuan came to perform fortheir children and that he came from far awayChina – that he came without any demand offinancial compensation – they became warmand welcoming.

I was convinced that sharing and introducinggreat art and great artists and thinkers to thepoorest of the poor would work not only inVenezuela and Brazil – it could easily work hereand everywhere else!

A N D R E V L T C H E K(http://andrevltchek.weebly.com/) is a novelist,filmmaker and investigative journalist. Hecovered wars and conflicts in dozens ofcountries. His book on Western imperialism inthe South Pacific, Oceania, is available here(http://www.amazon.com/Oceania-André-Vltchek/dp/1409298035). His provocative book aboutpost -Suharto Indonesia and market-fundamentalism is Indonesia – The Archipelagoo f F e a r(http://www.plutobooks.com/display.asp?K=978

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0745331997&). Vltchek presently resides andworks in East Asia and Africa.

Recommended Citation: Andre Vltchek, "Canthe Miracle of Music Transform Africa’s

Poverty? China’s Great Pianist Yuan ShengPerforms in Kenyan Slum," The Asia-PacificJournal, Vol 10, Issue 35, No. 4, August 27,2012.