‘Without music, life would be a mistake’- Friedrich Neitzsche.
I find this quote to aptly sum up the happenings and activities of the Scokendia Ensemble. This project has fully proved to me the power of music to reach across the planet to different peoples and cultures and bring us all together to simply make and play music. I have found Scokendia deeply humbling in certain aspects, especially when working the ‘American’ String Quartet by Dvorak, with Brian, David and Bianca, it was fantastic watching us all working together to create beautiful music in a short space of time.
I have also found the Scokendia Ensemble a great chance to learn about the different cultures and traditions that exist in both Kenya and India and how they compare to life here in Scotland, truly broadening my opinions and views on what these countries are really like. I even had the opportunity to explore some of Scotland’s culture through the medium of food, where my Kenyan and Indian friends opted for the ‘braw’ choice of Haggis and Fish Suppers.
The Scokendia Ensemble has also allowed me a chance to experience music directly from Kenya and India, new compositions specifically commissioned for and to be played by Scokendia. While these pieces may sound deceptively simple, they in fact employ quite complex rhythms and harmonies which are native to each Kenya and India. A Scottish composition was also commissioned as well, simply entitled ‘Weave’ by Kirsty Blackwood and while very much contemporary in comparison to both the Indian and Kenya compositions, it clearly still has a distinctive Scottish quality in the writing.
I have found this project to be both musically rewarding and a most fantastic collaboration between 3 distinctly different countries drawn together by the Commonwealth events and Culture 2014 in Glasgow. While this ensemble is freshly faced and new, this is only the beginning and what can be truly fantastic collaboration and music making from young people from Scotland, Kenya and India.
Scokendia 