Not All String Instruments are Violins
Kamau got his start on violin thanks to a communications blunder by his second-grade self. After having played guitar since Kindergarten, he told his parents he wanted to play the violin. Kamau explained his thought process: “Now, the thing I didn’t know at the time was the difference between a cello and a violin, so I thought that a cello was called a violin.” At that first lesson when his teacher presented an instrument quite different from what he was hoping for, Kamau felt disappointed and confused, thinking, “You’re gaslighting me!” However, he decided not to say anything. When he finally explained the confusion to his parents they gave him the option to switch, but he declined, finding the violin to be “not that bad.” It wasn’t until ninth grade that another instrument—the viola—caught his attention.
"It all started in school orchestra. I had a good amount of friends in the viola section," Kamau recalled. Curious about their instruments, he began asking about the viola’s notes and strings. His interest grew as he found, note by note, that learning the viola was manageable and “kind of cool.” When his violin teacher eventually caught wind of this development, he invited Kamau to play viola in the Kamoinge Ensemble at Walker West, equipping him with his first viola and the incentive to improve his alto clef knowledge.
After being accepted into the Artaria Chamber Music School last year as a violinist, Kamau faced a pivotal decision. He was told, “If you want to play in a quartet sooner, you can play viola; if you want to wait, you can stick with violin.” He jumped at the chance to play viola with Artaria, while continuing to focus on violin in his private lessons and solo repertoire. But now that the word was out, it was only a matter of time before news of this budding violinist-turned-violist would make it to MYS. Executive Director Tony Thomann attended an Artaria concert, told Kamau’s conductor Mark Mandarano, “and now we’re here,” Kamau laughed. Regarding this rapid turn of events, Kamau explained that he still likes the violin, “but there’s something about the tone that you can get on the viola that has always fascinated me.”
In addition to violin and viola, Kamau is also involved in choir and theater. He enjoys drawing similarities between acting and music techniques. This past summer at the Stringwood Chamber Music Festival, Kamau was told he relied too much on vibrato to create expression: “Try playing without vibrato to see where you can take your musicality with that, and then add it in where you really feel like it’s necessary.” That lesson came to mind recently when a theater friend offered this tip: “When acting, try not using your hands at all. Then notice those moments when you really want to use your hands to express your point more profoundly.” Thanks to these unique and varied performance experiences, Kamau is continually fascinated by the ways in which the performing arts are interconnected.
Kamau is the principal violist in the MYS Symphony Orchestra and an 11th grader at Washburn High School in Minneapolis. He studies violin with Ernest Bisong and Earl Ross.
