Meet Abigail Wangui – a multi-talented 15-year-old musician and future software engineer. Abby started her musical journey at only 4 years of age. She first started with the piano before trying her hand at violin, drums, flute, guitar and singing. She has recently taken up the cello.
Abby is a high achiever and has several trophies under her belt from winning competitions like the Kenya Music Festival. She has also been a finalist in the Young Musicians Competition, which is the most advanced competition in the country for young instrumentalists. She also came second in the first Spanish Guitar competition held in March this year.
She has been studying classical music with various teachers both privately and at Wynton House of Music, and she’s currently pursuing grade 8 in both violin and piano and grade 6 on guitar, cello and flute. She has done grade 5 ABRSM music theory.
Abby’s music talent is heavily influenced by her parents who are also musically gifted. They own a music school, which is where she and her siblings picked up their interests. In future, she plans to expand her parents’ school by opening more branches in order to get more people interested in music as her way of giving back.
Abby’s story is a great example of how the Safaricom Youth Orchestra grows and supports musical talent among the youth. She joined the orchestra in 2018 and immediately found her tribe among the current community of students and experienced tutors. Initially, she had some nerves and jitters, but she has since come into her own and is now more at home than ever.
Being with SYO has helped her become more social and expand her skills because the orchestra plays other genres of music other than classical. Abby recently accomplished another milestone when she played traditional Kenyan music compositions, which initially were only arranged for piano, but she incorporated cello and violin. She did this under the stewardship of renowned veteran pianist Mr. Francis Njoroge at a professional concert held in Muthaiga Country Club in June. It helps that beside being a good reader of music, she also has a good ear and is able to easily accompany songs she listens to on her various instruments. This gives her an edge because she’s able to create spontaneous music.
The orchestra has also helped her get more comfortable with her instruments because of the additional mandatory practise sessions. It is worth noting that she’s the first violinist at SYO, something she considers to be both an opportunity and a challenge. It comes with its fair share of pressure.
On what she would tell other children interested in getting into music but are unsure, Abby says go for it. She said that music and especially learning an instrument are a great tool for self-expression and to pass the time in a constructive way. There is a great sense of pride and achievement that comes from learning and getting good at playing an instrument. There are also numerous careers in the music industry.
Why an interest in software engineering?
Abby has always enjoyed making Apps and creating programmes. She’s good at it and wants to be one of the many women who are needed in the tech space. She knows that software engineering is a tough field, but she believes she has what it takes. She is determined to juggle her career and her passion for music.
Abby is well rounded and her other interests include football, tennis and swimming.