Classical music is often perceived as the preserve of the wealthy and the elite, older music fans or those who can afford the music instruments used in making it. This notion is debunked by the Safaricom Youth Orchestra (SYO) whose members are teenagers, many of whom cannot afford the expensive instruments they play.

The orchestra is the brainchild of Safaricom chief executive Bob Collymore, who, after watching children playing at an event in Sweden, was inspired to start something similar in Kenya.

Founded in 2014, the orchestra aims to inspire musical talent in children and its goal is to give an opportunity to youngsters from underprivileged families whose skills might otherwise never be discovered.

It is a place where social class gives way to musical talent, the youngest of whom is just 11 years old.

I recently watched these 60 young people perform their End of Term Concert and was quite impressed, considering that they have only been playing together for 11 weeks. The concert, conducted by music directors Duncan Mbugua and Levi Wataka, was an attractive mix of classic and contemporary music.

The performance started with Habanero and Les Toreodors, familiar tunes from the much-loved opera, Carmen, by Georges Bizet.

From Spanish flair the orchestra moved to the battle trenches with the theme song from the war movie, Band of Brothers. Still in combat mood, they played. The Dam Busters March by Eric Coastes, a popular tune from the World War II movie by the same name.

Nimrod, a solemn and stirring piece from Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations, was the most challenging piece for youngsters to pull off. As music director Mbugua explained, some of the children were completely new to the world of orchestra and were learning musical instruments for the first time.

Halfway through the programme, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Njoroge thrilled us with a solo of Ave Maria by Giacomo Puccini, an unexpected addition to the programme.

Auditions to the orchestra are held annually for new children between the ages of 10 and 18. So far 53 students have graduated from the orchestra, five of whom have gone on to study music at the University of Nairobi.

The students are trained by Mbugua, Wataka and a team of tutors with different musical specialties. Lessons and rehearsals are held for several hours every Saturday at the Safaricom House.

SYO is a full orchestra in terms of musical instruments and includes uncommon pieces such as the bassoon, oboe, viola and French Horn. Performance music is selected depending on the instruments available and Mbugua admits that sometimes it is hard to find tunes that include the gong and chimes.

Ms Njoroge, is also one of the orchestra’s music tutors. “The children come from different schools and socio-economic backgrounds.”

There are students from the elite St Andrews’s Turi (Molo) and Cavina Schools, some from Starehe Girls Centre, a national boarding school, as well as 18 children from Ghetto Classics, a musical project also started by Ms Njoroge that targets children from low income areas.

21-year old Brian Kepher, is the percussions tutor for the orchestra and a former protégé of Ghetto Classics. Kepher used to sleep on the floor of a local church because there wasn’t enough room in his family’s home in Nairobi’s Korogocho slum.

He has persevered with his love of music and aspires to become an orchestra conductor.

This year he attended the Verbier Music Festival in Germany and was the first African participant of the Mahler Conducting Competition, also in Germany.

“He is an example of somebody with a gift which could have been lost,” said Ms Njoroge.

The orchestra has performed at prominent events such as the Groove Awards, the Safaricom Jazz Festival and most recently for President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House Nakuru.

A classical rendition of the animated coastal folk tune Safari ya Bamba by Dr Arthur Kemoli, the late doyen of Kenyan choral music, was by far the favourite piece of the show and received an encore from the audience.