LATEST:
i went to Sundance film festival 2026 for the premiere of “Kikuyu land”, a documentary film i co-scored
The film digs into the topic of exploitation and land in the tea farms in Kenya, and one of the things that stands out about it to me is that it looks very honestly in to the role of “middlemen” in the ways that they were bought and sought to serve and perpetuate colonial and imperial systems — both in the colonial period, right after, and especially now.
A very deep thank you to Bea Wangondu and Andrew H. Brown for being so sure about me and my work. It was an immense honour to write original music for the documentary and to contribute to its teeming sound world, alongside the wonderful Keir Vine, a film composer who I had teamed up with in 2023 for The Shadow Scholars. There are many beautiful voices and important perspectives that are highlighted in the documentary, and I am so very excited that it is coming out into the world for people to engage with. We have to continue asking questions about what it really means to confront these colonial-era policies that still define the ways that our systems are built to work against its own people.
Be on the lookout for subsequent screenings of the film, including at CPH:DOX (Denmark) and Movies That Matter (The Netherlands)
2025
The concert premiere of “Birdsongs from Kirinyaga” with Cello Octet Amsterdam at Rewire Festival, and I scored a two-part documentary for Nike & Amazon Prime.
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Subbacultcha: An Interview with Nyokabi Kariũki
Nataal Magazine: Inside the wonderfully wonky world of this Nairobi sound artist and researcher
T-Mag (Rewire 2025 Review):
“Nyokabi Kariuki's performance, accompanied by the eight cellists of the Cello Octet Amsterdam, is an enlightening and enchanting tale, told as stories are passed down in the Kikuyu culture from which she comes…Nyokabi's voice and the cellos welcome and revive these songs, depicting a delicate and porous ecosystem, punctuated by moments of otherworldly grace.”
Rolling Stone Italia (Rewire Performance Mention)
'Just as birds pass on their songs, we Africans pass on our stories' - NRC, Dutch National Newspaper (Nyokabi interview)
End of year:
This was the most beautiful classical music in 2025 (NRC, Dutch National Newspaper)
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My new project with Cello Octet Amsterdam, “Birdsongs from Kĩrĩnyaga”, saw its world premiere at Rewire Festival in April 2025, and we further toured it for Gaudeamus Festival, September Me Festival, and at the esteemed Muziekgebouw in the Netherlands in September 2025.
I also gave the premiere of “Body, bend ”a 30 minute piece I composed for body percussion with live-electronics, at Sonic Territories Festival in Vienna, Austria (October 2025).
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I composed the original music for Breaking4: Faith Kipyegon vs. the 4-Minute Mile, an Amazon Prime documentary, released in June & July 2025. The documentary follows the inimitable Kenyan athlete Faith Kipyegon as she attempted to run a mile under 4-minutes, and also reflects on her early races, motherhood, and the team around her that has helped write her in the books as one of the greatest middle-distance runners in history.
2024
No release this year, but! I went on 3 tours on 3 different continents (North America, Australia and Europe), two of which were with the inimitable Julia Holter!
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A Closer Listen - Of Sound as Memory ~ An Interview With Nyokabi Kariũki
Pan African Magazine: Nyokabi Kariũki: an experimental sound practice rooted in Kenya
RRR (Melbourne): Radio Interview on The Score, with Daisy Nduta
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Supporting Act for Julia Holter’s North America Tour - 6 shows across East Coast USA, including in New York’s Webster Hall (May 2024)
Solo Australia Tour (curated by Lawrence English) - Art Gallery of New South Wales (Sydney), Brisbane Powerhouse (Brisbane), and The Substation (Melbourne) - (July 2024)
Supporting Act for Julia Holter’s EU/UK Tour - 10 shows (including in London’s Islington Assembly Hall and cities including Copenhagen, Paris, Amsterdam, Ghent, Stockholm, Oslo, Luxembourg) (November/December 2024)
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I attended 3 international film festivals in 3 different cities (Nairobi Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, and the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam) — each of which screened different films that i wrote music for, including my first feature-length film, The Shadow Scholars (co-scored with Keir Vine).
2023
the release of my second record (or debut album), FEELING BODY (cmntx records), plus my first tour, and my COLORS show!
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COLORS x Editorial — Artist Interview: Listening to Kenyan artist Nyokabi Kariũki’s musical compositions is an illuminating invitation into a world unlike your own
Press for FEELING BODY (2023) (cmntx records)
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COLORS x Editorial — Artist Interview: Listening to Kenyan artist Nyokabi Kariũki’s musical compositions is an illuminating invitation into a world unlike your own
The Guardian: Nyokabi Kariũki: the Kenyan composer using field recordings to conjure Nairobi from afar
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Press for “Nazama”, the single from FEELING BODY (cmntx records)
Pitchfork - “Nazama” Track Review by Philip Sherburne
Foxy Digitalis - Track Premiere: Nyokabi Kariũki “Nazama”
Pitchfork - Nyokabi Kariũki Announces Debut Album, Shares New Song “Nazama”
DJMag - Nyokabi Kariũki announces debut album, 'FEELING BODY', shares single: Listen
Our Culture - Nyokabi Kariũki Announces Debut Album ‘FEELING BODY, Unveils New Song ‘Nazama’
The Most Radicalist - LIST PICK Nyokabi Kariũki: “Nazama”
Higher Plane Music - Nyokabi Kariũki’s hypnotic voice returns on Nazama with debut album to follow
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My first tour ever (EU, self-organised!):
Opening for Visible Cloaks, IKLECTIK, London
Opening for Nivhek (Liz Harries/Grouper) in Lisbon
Le Guess Who? Festival, and I performed not only once but TWICE!
Nyokabi Kariũki & Atheer Soot at PUBLICS with Nordic Culture Club (Helsinki, FI)
Nyokabi Kariũki x Defunensemble at Musiikitallo, Helsinki (FI)
Nyokabi Kariũki, first live show in Rome (Basilica di San Pancrazio)
Nyokabi Kariũki & Kenya Cello International Festival (April 2023)
Nyokabi Kariũki live at PICA (Portland, OR) w/ Sholeh Asgary (Curated by Roya Amirsoleymani and Felisha Ledesma) (March 2023)
2022
the release of my first record (debut EP), “peace places: kenyan memories”!
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End of Year:
The Guardian - 10 Best Contemporary Albums of 2022
A Closer Listen - Top 10 Experimental 2022
Our Culture - The 25 Best EPs of 2022
Drummr - Best 10 African Alternative And Neo African Soul Music Albums Of 2022
Stereogum - The 10 Best Experimental Albums Of 2022 (Honourable Mention)
More:
Bandcamp - Best Albums of Winter 2022
The Guardian - Contemporary Album of the Month, Feb 2022
Our Culture - The 50 Best Album Covers of 2022
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Nyokabi Kariũki Illustrates Home on “peace places” — Bandcamp Daily
Meet Nyokabi Kariũki, The Kenyan Composer Boldly Experimenting With The Sounds Of Home — Drummr Africa
Kenya’s Weird Sounds — New Frame (Podcast)
Nyokabi Kariuki and KMRU on Their Philosophies of Field Recording — Talkhouse
"In Africa, musical engagements are often not divided between stage and audience - everyone is a contributor to the sound.” — 15 Questions
Conversation With Nyokabi Kariuki — Tangaza Magazine
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‘peace places: kenyan memories’ Review — The Quietus
peace places: kenyan memories Full EP Review — Pitchfork
Nyokabi Kariuki - Peace Places: Kenyan Memories (Review) — Resident Advisor
Nyokabi Kariuki’s “Equator song” Articulates the Pain of Colonial Dispossession — Pitchfork
More: A Closer Listen, ATTN:Magazine
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Nyokabi Kariũki + Cello Octet Amsterdam, Matt Evans and Alev Lenz — peace places: kenyan memories live at TivoliVredenbrug for the Gaudeamus Festival, Utrecht, Netherlands (September 2022)
“the season of Big rain (Mbura ya Njahĩ), performed by Third Coast Percussion at Constellation Chicago in Chicago, IL (June 2022)
“Raw Sugar”, commissioned & premiered by the Brooklyn Youth Chorus Men’s Ensemble at King’s Theatre, NY (May 2022)
“The Colour of Home” performed by International Contemporary Ensemble (Nathan Davis) at Roulette Intermedium, for the 2022 MATA Festival, curated by Darius Jones (May 2022)
“laika, bluu” (for piano duo) premiered by Chromic Duo in-person premiere at Baryshnikov Arts Center
“One, Your Name” (for double bass and electronics) performed by Robert Black (Bang on A Can All-Stars) on First Fridays with Robert Black (virtual)
2020 & 2021
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Finalist: 2021 Third Coast/Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition ‘Audio Unbound’ Category Finalist for ‘6:34 — A Quarantine Sound Journal’ (December 2021)
The category “awards audio works that experiment with format, function, genre, and go beyond the podcast feed or broadcast airwaves. This category awards creativity and innovation anchored in audio, but that builds a narrative across mediums and platforms.”
Winner: 2021 Hearsay ‘Art’ Award for “A Walk Through My Cũcũ’s Farm” (May 2021)
“The ‘Art’ Award is given to “sound art that is on the edge of our senses and understanding – audio that transports, transforms, evokes, immerses, transports.”
Shortlist: 2021 Hearsay Prize for ‘A Walk Through My Cũcũ’s Farm’ (February 2021)
Winner: Tetractys ‘NET WORK’ Collaboration Project (January 2021)
Winner: SA Recordings - ‘Recompose’ Competition (November 2020)
Honourable Mention: Chromic Duo CFS Commissioning Project (October 2020)
Winner: Brooklyn Youth Chorus Men’s Ensemble Composer Competition (December 2019)
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Nyokabi talks to ATTN:Magazine’s ‘Crucial Listening’ Podcast about 3 important records, and ‘Galu’
Nyokabi Kariũki on preserving the feeling of being free in her latest single Galu — Composer Magazine
Kenyan Composer Nyokabi Kariuki On Winning SA Recordings' 'Recompose' Competition — Tangaza Magazine
Nyokabi Kariũki releases single following her triumph alongside Alev Lenz — Pan African Music Magazine (English)
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Video Premiere: “Fishermen (Sell Your Dreams)” with Alev Lenz — Composer Magazine
Video Premiere: (no) i Don't Want to Leave You Whole / 'cause that may Leave Me Empty — I Care If You Listen
