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Kilele 2024





Watch the full Kilele aftermovie here: 







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Febuary 12 - 18th 2024, - Nairobi, Kenya




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CONFIRMED GUESTS 



And many more! 






Partners & Supporters





Ableton - the leading music tech firm behind Ableton Live and Push

Austrailian High Commission Nairobi - the AHC are supporting the FEMX stream of Kilele, fore-grounding non-male participation in the summit. 

Austrian Science Fund (FWF) - The Austrian Science Fund is the most important Austrian funding organization for basic research. The FWF supports research in science, engineering, and the humanities

Bitwig - Bitwig is an international music software company based in Berlin. The company was founded in 2009 by four music enthusiasts with extensive experience in the music technology industry and a strong vision about new cutting-edge methods of music production, live performance and collaboration.

British Council  - The British Council arts team works with the best of British creative talent to develop innovative, high-quality events and collaborations with artists and cultural institutions around the world.

 Elektron - is a Swedish developer and manufacturer of musical instruments founded in 1998, as well as having its headquarters, R&D and production in Gothenburg, Sweden. 

Goethe-Institut Nairobi- The Goethe-Institut is the cultural institute of the Federal Republic of Germany with a global presence.

Image-Line - Makers of the legendary FL Studio, one of the most iconic peices of music software of all time.

Pro Helvetia - The Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia supports and promotes Swiss culture in Switzerland and throughout the world

Resident Advisor - The world’s leading ticketing and editorial platform for underground electronic music are partnering with Kilele.



 

















 

Afrorack and Feldermelder come to Kilele







Kilele is delighted to host Brian Bamanya (aka Afrorack) and Manuel Oberholzer (who performs as Feldermelder). 

The pair first worked together when the Ugandan modular synth pioneer Afrorack was invited for a residency at the Swiss Museum for Electronic Music Instruments (SMEM), where he connected with Manuel and worked together on new music. The project at that time was made possible by Pro Helvetia, as is this interaction at Kilele. 


More about Afrorack: 

Brian Bamanya is an experimental multidisciplinary artist from Uganda who performs and records under the moniker Afrorack. He has done projects in sound art, electronic music, experimental visuals, renewable energy and kinetic sculptures.












During his time at SMEM in July 2022, Brian gave a performance and talk about his work with DIY synths. He also began exploring ideas for a collaboration with his host, Manuel Oberholzer (who performs as Feldermelder).

This took shape as the collaborative project “Rolex”, an album of new material bring together their distinct musical and cultural worlds. The project was supported by a Confluences grant from Pro Helvetia Johannesburg, aimed at supporting a shared space for collaboration, creation, and documentation of new work between musicians who have an existing creative relationship.

The project is inspired by their conversations about the different realities of life in Switzerland and Uganda. In Uganda there is a saying “We don’t wear Rolex, we eat them” (referring to the popular cheap street food of that name made of fried eggs rolled inside chapatis). “Rolex” – with its starkly different association in each of their contexts – suggesting an apt title for their project. 





At Kilele, the duo will present the results of their collaboration during a talk on Wednesday 14th Febuary, and will perform live later that evening at the infamous Mist venue in The Mall. 


The visit to Kilele is the first opportuntiy for the pair to share their collaboration with an East African audience, and is made possible by the Swiss Arts Council, Pro Helvetia. 

















It’s here! Our first ever Kilele program is ready for your perusal. You’ll find all the panels, talks, workshops, sundowners and showcases we have confirmed so far, but expect a few other surprises to pop up also.

Happening across various venues within The Mall, home of Santuri East Africa, The Mist and various other cultural hubs, we think there’s something for everyone in this week long extravaganza. You can find more details on each event by following the links below:







Check out the program here:








T




PRACTICAL INFORMATION





About: 


Kilele is a new symposium for East Africa, providing a cutting-edge forum for technology and innovation as it relates to music culture. Spanning a 7-day schedule of workshops, concerts, live performances, networking and presentations, Kilele will bring together the region’s most forward thinking creatives and collectives with global music tech companies, platforms and thought leaders.


Running from February 12th to 18th 2024, this event is the culmination of over a decade of accelerated creative endeavour in the electronic music space of East Africa, and dials in on the role of technology in music innovation, education, and creativity. Kilele will connect artists, DJs, curators, collectives, and venues with key players in the global music space to celebrate the journey so far, and define the path forward.


Stay up to date with Kilele:

︎ @kilelesummit
︎ @KileleSummit














Workshops



We have an exciting range of workshops at Kilele, covering everything from deep dives into digital intruments, AI, music for wildlife films, de-and re-constructing accepted workflows and much more. 



Ableton Workshop - Tuesday 13th 2023. 11am, OUT Reality / BRVR   



         



Join us for an exhilarating Ableton workshop happening during the Kilele summit where we immerse ourselves in the art of live performance. Veteran Live performers, producers & SEMA tutors, Kimina and Ng’at Maler will guide participants through hands-on experiences in live performance techniques, software intricacies and the hardware essentials for creating captivating and distinctive performances.Participants will have ample opportunity to get hands on with live performance gear as well as get an exclusive first ever look at the Push 3 in East Africa.

Ableton has been a partner of Santuri since day one, so we are proud and delighted to host this workshop as a part of our 10 year celebrations. 


SIGN UP 




Advanced sign up required and is only for Kilele ticket holders  

 







BITWIG WORKSHOP - Wedneday 14th 2023. 11am,

OUT Reality / BRVR






We’ll also run an intro to Bitwig workshop for folks curious about this immense production suite and live tool, facilitated  by the one and only Hendrick Sam - more giveaways for the lucky participants! 




Hendrick Sam is an Audio Engineer, Producer, Multi-Instrumentalist, Educator, Speaker and the founder of Ace Audile, a front dedicated to bringing quality to the studio and stage. His niche in musical work spans all genres and disciplines, from Classical Music, to Jazz, to Electronic Music and even Ethnic Music. Hendrick is known for his ability to fuse other genres with the Jazz and Classical disciplines, as well as delivering crisp mixes and masters with industry longevity.



Advanced sign up required and is only for Kilele ticket holders. 



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ELEKTRON HARDWARE WORKSHOP -  Thursday 15th 2023. 11am, OUT Reality / BRVR   











A special session showcasing the creative possibilities of Elektron hardware is an unmissable opportunity to catch Sven Kacirek break down his usage of the Octatrack alongside his Buchla synthesiser. There will also be plenty of chances to get hands on with Elektron gear like the Digitakt and Model: Samples.  


Sven Kacirek was born in Hamburg, Germany. He studied at the conservatory in Arnhem, the Drummers Collective in New York City, and at the Musikhochschule in Hamburg. He has worked with Shabaka Hutchings, John McEntire, Nils Frahm, Sofia Jernberg, Hauschka, Marc Ribot, Ensemble Resonanz, Stargaze Ensemble, Stefan Schneider, amongst others.




Advanced sign up required and is only for Kilele ticket holders

SIGN UP





FL STUDIO WORKSHOP - Friday, 16th Febuary 11am, 
OUT Reality / BRVR   

 
We are delighted to host a workshop on FL Studio, where participants will be able to dive deep into the legendary software, guided by Kenyan über producer Manch!ld. Expect some freebies for the attendees.   




 



Advanced sign up required and is only for Kilele ticket holders
SIGN UP




____________________


Other Workshops 


Thursday - Santuri Salon / Studio 


FEMX Track Clinic with Jane Arnison 
We’ll be prioritising non-male producers but all are welcome. Artists should come equipped with their works-in-progress and Jane will provide expert feedback on your music and mix in an open and welcoming forum.    




SIGN UP 



Thursday - Fem Lab 

Tim Grund

Building live-electronic instruments with Pure Data derived from tape-music compositions


In this workshop, we will present a method of employing MIR (music information retrieval) techniques in order to prepare a live-electronic setup in the open source audio software Pure Data (PD). We will showcase a dedicated live-electronics setup for the re-interpretation of the piece „Leiyla and the poet“ by Halim El-Dabh (1959) and discuss the challenges in extracting the source sounds from a tape music mixdown. Participants will learn about MIR techniques such as beat tracking and source separation, work with the software PD, the provided setup and develop their own interpretations of El-Dabh's music. For participants, please bring your own laptop, headphones and eventually a MIDI-Controller.


Classroom 


11.00 - 13.00 - BYTE Live Coding Workshop

 
BYTE presents a workshop on music coding practice, tailored to accommodate individuals at all levels of coding proficiency and musicians interested in exploring text-based music creation approaches with special emphasis on Sonic Pi—a free, open-source music synthesizer. This session blends an introduction, guiding participants through the basics, and progressively leads towards the articulation of a captivating live coding performance. 


Salon

 

1am - 13.00 Workshop:  NEWF - music for wildlife documentaries workshop

Following the success of the Compose yourself labs, NEWF is extending insight into the world of wildlife-film composition, an area in which African musicians are often left out of the equation.

Led by film-director Sam Thuku and award-winning composer Labdi Ommes, this workshop will create an entry-point for upcoming Kenyan musicians/composers into the vast scene of wildlife films.




15.00 - 17.30  -  Workshop  - AI, Music and & Creativity

In this Music AI workshop, Gabriel Vigliensoni and Philippe Pasquier will present state-of-the-art AI tools to boost your creativity. They will introduce free tools for computer-assisted music composition and symbolic music and rhythm generation (MIDI). In the second part, they will cover AI-driven sound design and synthesis. All the tools covered are free to use, so bring your machine to try them live and get inspired.




Friday - Classroom


NITM - Not In The Manual - An exploration of misusing and abusing instruments with DJ Raph 

Using technology in ways not originally intended, as a creative tool and as deliberate choice for an artistic practice. This session will be led by one of Nairobi’s most influential  A brief history of technology misuse - samplers, turntables, hiphop, electronic music. Live creation of a track (mis)using FL Studio, Roland SP-555, Denon Prime GO and Audacity. More examples/possibilities of NITM: Fun with YouTube, deliberate glitch and No-Fi production, no input mixing.



Friday, 11am, The Mist

Nyokabi Kariũki + Alex Hofmann

Bodypercussion & Live-Electronics 


This workshop focuses on the artistic perspectives of Nyokabi Kariũki, a composer and performer from Nairobi, Kenya, who uses voice and body percussion to explore the complexities of post-colonial African identity, and Alex Hofmann, a live-electronics performer and researcher investigating questions of live-electronic performance preparation strategies. The workshop encourages participants to actively explore body percussion playing techniques and to develop new concepts for combining body percussion with live-electronics considering approaches from the field of ubiquitous music.



Friday 14.00 - 16.00, SEMA Classroom



Workshop with Afrorack & Feldermelder.


Friday 16.00 - 17.00, Santuri Salon  

Getting Booked at Festivals

How can East Africa artists connect and interact with global festivals? This session will speak with festival directors and bookers to discuss concrete ways artists and organisations can develop relationships with international platforms.     

Moderated by Sisian

Panelists:

Guilherme Tavares
Amanda Bittar
Mimie Maggale
Geraldine Hepp 
Jess White 

 

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