Biography

Nyokabi Kariũki (she/her) is a Kenyan composer, sound artist and performer based between Nairobi, New York, and Maryland. Her sonic imagination is ever-evolving, spanning across various genres from classical contemporary to experimental electronic music, explorations in sound art, (East) African musical traditions and more. She performs with the piano, voice, electronics, and on instruments from the African continent — particularly kalimbas, the mbira, and djembe. Released in February 2022, her debut EP, ‘peace places: kenyan memories’ (SA Recordings) was marked as as one of Bandcamp’s Best Albums of Winter 2022 and The Guardian’s 10 Best Contemporary Albums of 2022, with additional praise from Pitchfork, Resident Advisor, The New York Times, and more. In September 2022, Nyokabi debuted a reimagination of the EP at the 2022 Gaudeamus Festival, performing alongside the acclaimed Cello Octet Amsterdam, percussionist and electronic musician Matt Evans, and vocalist, Alev Lenz. Her other concert works have been performed by notable ensembles such as Third Coast Percussion and Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and she has received commissions both in sound art and contemporary classical spaces, including from BBC Radio 3, Arcis Saxophon Quartett, and more. Her second record, the first full length album from Nyokabi, will be released in March 2023 via New York's cmntx records.