Cousins Play for Purpose in Kamoinge Strings

Senhit (fourth from left) and Rahel (second from right) walk with members of Kamoinge Strings to Say Their Names Park for the George Floyd Candlelight Vigil in May 2025. Rahel and Senhit were members of the MYS Symphony Orchestra Class of 2025. Rahel is a graduate of Woodbury High School and Senhit is a graduate of Cretin-Durham Hall. Both study violin with Earl Ross.

Longtime MYS violinists Rahel and Senhit have been familiar faces on Saturday mornings for many years—Rahel joined in 2017, with her cousin Senhit following a year later. Both come from a family of siblings with deep roots in MYS, "so not being a musician was out of the question," says Rahel. Her eldest sister Saliem, who played violin in MYS from 2010–17, inspired Rahel with her passion and technical skill. While her other siblings chose viola, Rahel took after Saliem and began taking violin lessons with Earl Ross at Walker West Music Academy in first grade. For Senhit, the journey began even earlier—at age five—also with Earl, who has remained their teacher ever since. “Rahel’s older sister [Saliem] set it up for all of us. Then it was like, ‘oh, let’s put the rest of the cousins in there!’” For the past 15 years, Rahel, Senhit, and seven cousins in all (Saliem, Ariam, Asla, Ream, and the youngest and only cellist among the group—Yinedi) have been part of MYS—a family dynasty!

Growing up making music together, the cousins—along with eight other current and former MYS students at Walker West—eventually developed into Kamoinge (pronounced “kom-wean-geh”) Strings. Based at Walker West Music Academy, the ensemble started informally in 2017 when students were invited to perform with the hip-hop artists Black Violin at the Ordway. Prior to that debut, string students would come together across studios to perform at the conclusion of combined string recitals. The ensemble officially launched under the name Kamoinge during the 2021–22 school year when it partnered with Artaria String Quartet and Chamber Music School to premiere Anthony R. Green’s The Joy Diptych. Music by the ensemble ranges from familiar works for string orchestra to spirituals, gospel, jazz, hip-hop, and underrepresented classical composers of color. Named after a Kikuyu word meaning "a group working together, unforced and unconstrained, to do good for the community," Kamoinge reflects deep connections and shared cultural values. “Many of us have been together for life—we’ve quite literally grown up together. Earl’s known me since before I was born,” Rahel remarks. Senhit adds, “These are people I’ve been around my whole life. I’m really close to them.”

Last month, Kamoinge Strings performed for the George Floyd Candlelight Vigil at Say Their Names Park in Minneapolis. The event, which commemorated the fifth anniversary of Floyd's death, drew a broad cross-section of the Twin Cities community. The program featured spirituals and uplifting pieces that offered messages of hope and healing. “It was touching. When we played, everyone was like, ‘Wow, Black violinists—this is amazing,’” Senhit remembers. Rahel explains that the ensemble often highlights works by African American composers who have historically been forgotten or underrepresented. “This gives us a sense of pride and identity. Our performances are rooted in a mission to uplift our community by showcasing black excellence and the result of dedication and resilience.” A meaningful expression of this connection is their tradition of opening concerts with Lift Every Voice and Sing, with the audience rising to sing along.

Although the students’ training is firmly grounded in the classical tradition, Kamoinge Strings recently incorporated jazz into their repertoire. In 2024 the ensemble embarked on a project titled Stringocracy, in which they prepared a 90-minute concert featuring a set of jazz standards. The project culminated in the ensemble being invited to perform at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival. This past April, Kamoinge participated in the Eau Claire Jazz Festival, receiving one of the highest scores by a high school ensemble. In both instances, Kamoinge made history as the first ensemble of its kind to perform at the festival. “At first I wasn’t really a fan,” Rahel recalls of initially learning jazz. “Our whole careers were strictly classical.” Embracing the unfamiliar genre was especially daunting when it came to improvisation. “Earl would pick people and they would improvise. No one really wanted to do it,” Senhit admits. But with time and experience, their attitudes shifted: “A lot of us have gotten better and now want to do it.” Director Earl Ross notes the significance of these recent ventures, describing their Eau Claire appearance as “an unusual opportunity that builds on the students' accomplishments in 2024 by stretching the string orchestra canon for intermediate to advanced students within an American music genre.”

Now high school graduates, both Rahel and Senhit plan to continue making music. Senhit plans to play in the college orchestra while pursuing a nursing degree at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth. Reflecting on how MYS and Kamoinge have shaped her, she says, “they both give us a shot to show what we’re made of.” Rahel will attend DePaul University in Chicago, where she hopes to join a quartet or orchestra. “I’m trying to get a roommate who’s a viola player,” she laughs. Looking back on her musical journey so far, she adds, “I’m very grateful to have the opportunity to play music. It’s brought so much to my life and my perspective on life.”