Kenyan nyatiti player selected for UK residency

5 Oct 2020 - 16:42

Published under the Creative Commons Licence

Kenyan multi-instrumentalist, music teacher and contemporary dancer Rapasa Otieno will compose and record his next album during a 10-month residency at Sage Gateshead, an arts venue in the northeast of England. The 2020-21 residency was awarded to Otieno and three other artists in September. It will run until June 2021.

Rapasa Otieno will record his next album in the UK.

The annual residency is given to artists who are focused on full-time songwriting, production and performance. Artists receive funding for a creative project of their choice, a residential retreat, rehearsal space, one-on-one advice and support, and a concert at Sage Gateshead to showcase their project at the end of the residency.

Otieno's upcoming project follows the release of Tipona in March. Otieno says he will use the residency to promote East African traditional instruments, including the nyatiti, an eight-stringed instrument played by the Luo people in Kenya's west.

“I can happily say that I will release some more music next year,” Otieno told Music In Africa. “My main motive for doing anything is to improve the quality of my work. I love residencies because they give space for collaborations. It speaks volumes when an artist can identify an emerging concept and bring new complementary elements to the table. I look forward to more collaborations in the coming months.”

Otieno, who also builds and repairs traditional instruments such as the obukano, adeudeu and kalimba, is saddened by the fact that many young Kenyan musicians deem traditional music as primitive.

“We need new young talents to be groomed for sustainable traditional music careers,” he said. "The Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage must formulate programmes and masterclasses between old and young artists to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and skills.”

Last year, Otieno was among eight artists who took part in the Making Tracks residency at Kings Place in London, and in 2017 he was a OneBeat fellow in the US. The OneBeat programme brings together emerging musicians from around the world to create original works and to develop a global network of civically engaged music initiatives.

Otieno was also a member Nile Project, which ran from 2014 to 2017 and featured musicians from the 11 countries sharing the Nile River. The artists performed at concerts and led workshops in Africa, Europe and the US.