As he stepped up onto the stage at the theatre in central Rome on January 30, David Mwenje was tense, which is expected, but he had many reasons to be in an elevated emotional state.
He was the only black person in the room, and his journey to the Oratorio del Gonlafone to perform at a celebration of diplomatic relations between Australia and The Vatican began in Korogocho, a sprawling informal settlement in Nairobi.
Mwenje has been performing with Ghetto Classics and the Safaricom Youth Orchestra, and he was confident, as much as he was tense, that destiny placed him on that stage.
“Though I was a little bit tense, I told myself there is no way I could have come all the way from Kenya to the Vatican and then be afraid. So, by the time I was walking onto the stage, I had believed it was my destiny to be there. So, I gave myself courage and sought to represent my mum, Ghetto Classics, and Kenyans,” he recalls.
Mwenje performed “Panis Angelicus” Latin for “Bread of Angels” along with his mentor Breana Stillman.
He was there on the invitation of the Australian Ambassador to the Vatican, Chiara Porro, through Breana’s charity, OperAffinity, which seeks to bring Opera and Classical Music to new audiences.
“Panis Angelicus” is the second-to-last section of the hymn “Sacris solemniis,” which was written by Saint Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century. In 1872, composer César Franck set “Panis Angelicus” to music as part of a sacred composition.
The song has been performed by such stars as Andrea Bocelli, the legendary Italian classical tenor and singer-songwriter and now here was Korogocho-born and raised Mwenje touching hearts with his performance of it.
“I was the only black person among the performers and among the audience, and there I was doing white people music. After the performance, I was just smiling, I felt like crying, but I just kept smiling and giving thanks to God for enabling me to sing well. Everyone was happy, guys were crying in the audience. The song had connected and that is the best feeling, sharing your gift until people are moved,” he said.
His flight may have taken only 15 hours from Kenya, but Rome was a trip back in time for the 21-year-old music student at Kabarak University.
“Looking at the Vatican everything is historic. There is nothing for 2019. You see things that are many centuries old, and it is amazing. For me it was magical. In school, we are taught about music history. One of the periods is the Baroque period that is dominated by paintings of men on horseback. Seeing the paintings brought home what we are taught,” said Mwenje.
While music is a universal language able to transcend barriers, Mwenje’s trip from Korogocho to Rome was not without its fair share of cultural bumps.
“I went during the coldest week of winter. Yes, there is sunlight, but the cold you feel is crazy. Food was also a challenge. Italians love pizza, pasta while I am used to beans, chapo, ugali. I kept wondering where I could get this. I asked the hosts if I could get African food, and they told me that the only option was Nigerian food and where it was available was too far,” he mused.
For Mwenje, born in a family of eight, four of whom have died due to crime and mostly raised by a vegetable-selling single mother, music and learning are a sure ticket out of the squalor of the ghetto.
“I have only seen all these things in the movies. I felt like a character in a movie. Many people expect when you travel abroad, you get paid a lot, you come back with money. For me I wanted to learn and to experience what God has planned for me in future. At the Vatican I met many teachers who appreciated my ambition and they all sought to help me grow,” he said.
Mwenje met Breana when she organized a classical music class in 2020 during a visit to Kenya. Breana was mesmerized by Mwenje’s voice and she took him under her wing, giving him online classes and mentorship that culminated in the Vatican trip.
Mwenje’s love for music was sparked in his childhood as his mother played Kikuyu gospel music in the house. His talent was then nurtured by him singing in church.
And his life took a positive turn seven years ago when he joined Our Lady of Fatima for his secondary education, as many of his classmates were part of Ghetto Classics. He was a Form One perfect, and he made a deal with the noisemakers in class who knew how to play musical instruments that he would not report them to the Deputy Headteacher if they taught him music.
Eventually, the musical pull proved to be too strong, and Mwenje drummed up the courage and walked into St. John’s Church, where Ghetto Classics holds practice sessions, and the rest is history. Upon joining Ghetto Classics, Mwenje learnt to read music and play instruments starting with a recorder and double bass and eventually settling on the clarinet for the orchestra. With his angelic voice, “some say I have a Vatican voice,” Mwenje was also drawn to the choir.
Through Ghetto Classics founder Elizabeth Njoroge, Mwenje was introduced to Opera singer Sylvester Makobi, a Kenyan based in the US with the African American Arts Institute at the Indiana University of Bloomington. The duo forged an on online learning mentorship fostered materially by Ghetto Classics and Safaricom through provision of airtime, bundles and a laptop.
“Ghetto Classics removed me mentally from the slum. Yes, I still stay there but I am mentally not there. When you play music you go to different places, meet different people and you get to see how they are then you are inspired to grow, get out of the ghetto and make a better life for yourself,”
For Mwenje who in 2017 starred in a leading role in a Kenyan musical, his ultimate dream is to be an opera singer. In his free time, he enjoys the now wavy Afro-beat music introduced to him by his girlfriend, to whom he has introduced classical and opera music.
