About Us

The Nairobi Orchestra was founded in 1947, and is one of the oldest orchestras in Africa. Today, the orchestra has an ongoing membership of over 150 musicians, with around 70-80 players participating in each concert season. 

The Nairobi Orchestra contributes to the continued growth and development of orchestral music in Kenya by providing its most able and promising musicians, of any background, with the opportunity to play serious music together to the highest possible standard – and our audiences with the opportunity to hear it! 

Nairobi Orchestra is part of a wider community of musical, educational and social programmes that work towards building a better society in Kenya, through music. Many of our players have developed through, and continue to work and perform with some of these organisations, including the Kenya Conservatoire of Music, the National Youth Orchestra of Kenya, and Ghetto Classics, among others. 

The Nairobi Orchestra has five main concert seasons a year, with orchestral concerts in March, June and November, and concerts in partnership with Nairobi Music Society (NMS), in April and December. We also regularly participate as the orchestra for Voices for Hospices; a biennial performance of Handel’s Messiah involving multiple choirs, and acting as a fundraiser for the Nairobi Hospice.  Across the seasons, we perform a diverse range of music, including standard classical repertoire, lesserknown works, and frequent premieres and performances of music by Kenyan composers. 

Notable recent performances include our Kenya at 60 concerts in June 2023, featuring original works by five different Kenyan composers and arrangers; and in June 2024, the Kenyan premiere of Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9, in two sold out performances, conducted by Guest Conductor Toby Purser and joined by the NMS choir.