In Concert with Gerald Kamau Barry and The Byron Consort

The Byron Consort of Harrow School is in Nairobi for a series of concerts that have seen them perform at the Michael Joseph Centre, British High Commission and Muthaiga Country Club. Harrow School is one of the oldest and most famous schools in England, boasting Winston Churchill as their most famous alumnus. The Byron Consort is Harrow’s elite vocal ensemble founded in 2001 by Philip Evans, who continues to direct the choir, and consists of 18 Harrow Boys and 4 adults.

The choir has sung in famous churches in England including St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Winchester, Canterbury and Chichester Cathedrals and St George’s Chapel Windsor Castle. The choir has been on various overseas trips including notable venues such as St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow and Trinity Wall Street and St John the Divine Cathedral in New York City. They have also sung for the former British Prime Minister David Cameron and closer home, at the Kenya High Commission in London.

I attended the concert at the Michael Joseph Centre and I must admit, I was quite excited. I have attended several classical music concerts and even studied music for a few years, so I knew it would be a real treat. The Byron Consort was introduced by Elizabeth Njoroge, the Founder of Ghetto Classics, who are the beneficiaries of the concert. Ghetto Classics is the flagship programme of the Art of Music Foundation which is a community programme that involves over 650 children in Korogocho founded by Elizabeth Njoroge and Fr John Webootsa in 2008.

Finally, the moment we’d all been waiting for arrived. The boys and 2 ladies that make up the Byron Consort got on stage. They performed 12 pieces in total with 2 solos as intermissions. Majority of the pieces were sacred or religious pieces spanning different periods in history including the Renaissance and Romantic periods. This really fit in with the Lent period and added some colour to the season. My favourite pieces of the night were, ‘’Set Me as A Seal’’, (of which I have the sheet music at home) “God So Loved the World” and Shosholoza (a nod to their recent trip to South Africa). The highlight for me though was their rendition of the Kenyan National Anthem. The harmonies were gorgeous and it reminded me why our anthem is one of the best in the world.

It was a proud moment to realize that one of the chorister’s in The Byron Consort is a Kenyan. 16-year-old Gerald Kamau Barry, started his musical career at a very young age by singing hymns in Sunday school. He went on to be a chorister in primary school and has since gone on to grow his musical talent by being accepted into the prestigious Harrow School on a music scholarship. Gerald also plays the oboe, piano and guitar and it is no wonder that he was picked to be part of the elite Byron Consort.

Classical music in Kenya isn’t as appreciated as it can be and there aren’t that many concerts happening so this was a wonderful change of pace for me. I enjoyed the concert because of the beautiful performances. There is a lovely silence that punctuates acapella performances that force the listener to really listen to the voices and to the lyrics with no distractions. I hope with budding musical talents like Gerald delving into music at the prestigious Harrow School, it will inspire more young Kenyans to take up music at that level.