Aga Khan Academy Mombasa – National Choral Champions!

Members of the choir had performed for His Highness the Aga Khan during his visit to the Academy in JulyThe Aga Khan Academy, Mombasa won 14 top three placings including five firsts at the recent 2011 National Kenya Music Festival held in Nakuru. In one category the Academy was placed first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth. The school was recognized on Kenyan national television as the top individual school in a competition that featured approximately 85,000 participants from different parts of the nation.

The festival receives entries from nursery schools, primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities. Students use different avenues of self expression in celebrating Kenyan cultural heritage through an extravaganza of music, dance and elocution.

The Aga Khan Academy singers were directed by Choral Master Mr. Philip Agutu Ouma, an expert in choral music whose singers have won titles at this national festival for the last five years, with strong support and accompaniment by Head of Expressive Arts, Mr. Otieno Onyango. They guided the performers from the Divisional and Provincial competitions to ultimately representing Coast Province at the National Festival.

Individual results included:

OPERATIC ORATORIO LIEDER: Xenia Karungu 1^st

OPERATIC ORATORIO LIEDER: Sameer Shah 2^nd

OWN CHOICE TRIO: Xenia Karungu, Cicilia Tende, Njeri Mwengi 1^st

BHAJAN–HINDI/ GUJARATI: Parthivi Bhatia 1^st

SOLO PUBLIC SPEAKING: Emaan Rashid 1^st

PIANO SOLO ADVANCED: Saumya Gupta 1^st

HINDI/ GUJARATI SOLO: Sameer Shah 2^nd

ORIENTAL CLASSICAL VOCAL: Mishal Lalani 2^nd

SOLO SET PIECE: Jane Mwengi 2^nd

OPERATIC ORATORIO SOLO: Parthivi Bhatia 2^nd

OPERATIC ORATORIO SOLO: Vanessa Mucheke 3^rd

SOLO SET PIECE: Timeus Mulinge 3^rd

TRIO OWN CHOICE: Jane Mwengi, Parthivi Bhatia, Moureen Mulinge 3^rd

ORIENTAL CLASSICAL VOCAL SOLO: Saahil Ariff Manji 3^rd